Braving the Flames
by Marvel
Summary: Pearl's back, and this time with a deadly fever. Will she live long enough to straighten things out with Norrington? Please read Pearl first--this is a sequal.
1. Deadly Reunions

Braving the Flames 

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Pearl is mine. No one may have her. Unless they ask really nicely. And let me write all of the speaking parts. And run all her actions by me before she does them. See, I'm not totally disagreeable. I don't really care what you do with the rest of them since they aren't mine.

Author's note: Luv you all. If you didn't see it I did a special final posting on Pearl. Please visit it some time. Thanks!

Will couldn't help but look in wonder at his laughing guest. Commodore Norrington, or Edward as he insisted Will and Elizabeth call him now, was hardly recognizable as the tight-laced, stuffy military man he had been before sailing back to Port Royal next to Pearl Sparrow. He laughed easily now, and wore a smile near-constantly. He got along better with Elizabeth's father than he ever had before, and visited the happy couple often as his duties would allow.

Not that the laxness crossed over to his duties. When he was in full-blown Commodore mode he was completely in control. For that reason the officers in the military approved highly of the change in his personality although they never understood the reason.

"How is Maggie?" Elizabeth asked as she leaned forward to refill Norrington's tea cup.

In the three months since Pearl had disappeared and the Turners had returned Norrington's eye had strayed toward the young, beautiful, and sociable Margaret Neats. Everyone said it was good match. Maggie may have been young, but that was the only thing anyone could hold against either of them. Her brother was a good friend of Norrington's. She was always smiling, always happy, always upbeat with never a cross word to say about anyone, and no one ever said anything bad of her. She was impossibly quick-witted with a considerable amount of education to her name. She sweetened Edward's disposition when he grew morose and fussed over him as surely as he did her. Everyone said it was a perfect match.

And to top it off, she was absolutely beautiful. The very picture of Pearl, if a person thought about it. Long red hair and a sprinkling of freckles, these unhidden behind a tan but standing out in a china-doll complection. She had the same lankiness as Pearl, but without the muscles to fill her out. Her eyes, at least, were the very opposite of Pearl's. Sparkling blue, they always seemed to be laughing.

To the Turners' surprise Norrington sighed heavily. "Is something the matter?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, no. It just seems that Maggie is becoming anxious. She wishes to set a date."

Will and Elizabeth shared a smile, both remembering how anxious they had been to marry.

"That's hardly surprising," Elizabeth said.

"No, I don't suppose. The timing is just poor. Pirate season, you know. I'm constantly being called off a moment's notice. That's no way to try to plan a wedding. Better she should wait until winter comes on."

"She'll come around," Elizabeth assured him. "She's to come visit me tomorrow. Perhaps I shall speak to her about it."

"I would appreciate it, Eliza-"

He paused as shouting from the foyer caught their attention, permeated by a loud crash of thunder, far too loud to be heard through anything but an open front door. Both men stood to approach the door to the foyer when it burst open to admit a hulking, dark, cloak-clad, dripping wet figure. Both men's hands went to the swords as Elizabeth reached for one of her many hidden daggers she'd learned to keep close at hand, as the maid followed prattling, "Apologias, Sir, he refused to wait."

"Oh, sod off," the figure ordered, tossing his head to throw back the cape to reveal Jack Sparrow.

"Jack!" Elizabeth gasped.

The trademark grin was nowhere to be seen, nor was the sparkle in his eye as he regarded them. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need your help."

"Jack, you know better than this," Norrington said. "Now I have to arrest you, by rights, and-"

"You can arrest me all you want when I know my daughter ain't dying," he answered. Shrugging he managed to open the cloak around him to reveal the shivering girl in his arms.

"Pearl!" Elizabeth cried, rushing forward to examine her as the men crowded behind.

She brushed the hair away from the girl's face. Under the heavy tan Pearl was pale, shivering in her father's arms as he eyelids twitched as if she were caught in some nightmare she couldn't summon the power to escape. Elizabeth wiped the sweat from her green-tinged skin as she carefully examined the girl. "She's burning up!"

"Noticed that," Jack answered. "Is there somewhere I could put her?"

"Yes, of course. Bitsy, go open the first guest room and ask Missy to bring some water." The girl nodded and ran to comply. "Bring her this way, Jack," Elizabeth ordered, leading him back into the foyer and up the marble staircase as the two remaining men followed. "How long has she had the fever?"

"She collapsed on deck two days ago," Jack answered. "How long she was fighting the fever before that is anyone's guess. She never tells us. Doesn't want to show weakness, you know."

"How long has she been unconscious?" Elizabeth asked.

"A day. She wouldn't wake this morning. That's what made me make for here. I was aiming for Tortuga but you were a good day closer, and you can afford medical attention she'd never get at in Tortuga."

"That's right," Elizabeth said. "Will, why don't you go for the surgeon?"

"I'll go," Norrington interrupted, striding quickly out of the room Elizabeth had just led them into.

The maid scurried into the room to place a bowl of water on the washstand, then scrambled forward to turn down the bed and allow Jack to set his daughter carefully into place. She moaned a bit, shifting but not waking.

Elizabeth pulled the covers up and waived the maid, who had been eyeing Jack with something close to terror, toward the basin. She fetched it and Elizabeth placed a damp cloth on Pearl's forehead. The entire time Jack hovered nervously, eyes glued on his daughter.

It only took minutes for the surgeon to come, although it felt longer. He arrived, sweeping the room with his eyes, sparing a curious look for Jack before moving to Pearl's side.

Jack crossed his arms and glared down at the man as he tsked as he looked Pearl over. "Pirate?" he asked, glancing up at Jack. Jack didn't answer, merely glared down at the man kneeling beside his daughter. The surgeon's eyes shifted to Norrington. "Commodore?"

"Her name is Bethany Maltrey. She is Elizabeth's cousin."

"Hogwash," the surgeon interrupted. "Girls don't get fevers like this sitting quietly in their rooms. This is a sea fever if ever I saw one. You'd best start telling me the truth if you want me to treat her. I'll not hold it against any of you." He looked pointedly at the Commodore. "But I need information if I'm to treat her." His eyes returned to Jack. "How long has she been on your ship?"

"Ten years, on and off," he answered with a shrug. "Been about three months since we spent more'n a night on dry land."

The surgeon nodded. "She's your lover then?"

Jack bristled. "No. That is my daughter."

His eyebrows rose. "Interesting." He returned to his examination. Turning down the covers he opened her shirt and placed his ear above her right breast. Growling Jack moved forward but

Will pinned him with a firm hand. "He has to listen to her heart and lungs."

Jack settled back to leaning against the wall, sharp eyes fixed on the man.

Norrington's eyes caught the glint of light as it hit the gold necklace laying against Pearl's breast, red and orange jewels glittering in the meager light. His necklace, still clasped firmly around her neck. It made his heart race.

Finally the surgeon sat up with a nod, replacing the covers. "How long has she been like this?"

"A day," Jack growled out. "Two since she could walk."

He nodded. "All right then. It doesn't sound good. Her heart's too fast and I believe there's fluid in her lungs. But then she's only just settling in so I don't want to rush into an extreme course of action. Do what you're doing now. Keep her lightly covered, keep her forehead cool, and try to keep her somewhat sweat free. We'll see if her condition improves by morning. Have you been bleeding her?"

"No," Jack said. "She doesn't believe in it. Her gypsy friend says it's the stupidest thing she's ever heard of, and Pearl says that she hasn't ever felt better for spilling blood."

"Well, she wasn't sick then, and I seriously doubt that her gypsy friend knows as well as educated men. The diseased blood is remaining in her system, making things worse."

Jack sighed heavily. "Just do what you have to," he finally agreed. "Make her better."

Jack silently and sullenly watched the man call for a bowl and pick up a knife. It was so uncommon to see Jack quiet and withdrawn that it made Will nervous. Finally, as the surgeon readied Pearl's arm, Jack turned and stalked out of the room. Will followed quickly and quietly, trailing Jack back down into the foyer.

"Call me a coward if you like, Will," Jack remarked as he settled into a chair. "I just can't watch some man hack into my daughter."

"I can't blame you for that," Will said. "It isn't cowardly. It's noble."

Jack laughed, a harsh bark of laughter. "Do me a favor, Will. I don't care if I'M dying, never call me noble."

Will shook his head. "If the name fits. Look, Jack, you can't worry over it. I mean, this is Pearl Sparrow. She's survived growing up on the streets of Tortuga and sailing on ships."

"She's survived a serious whipping," Edward put in, appearing out of the shadows. "And the fever that came with it, I'd wager."

"It says something, you know about that," Jack remarked. "She doesn't tell many people about it. You know, you'd make a fair theif, or at least a spy," he put in as the Commodore sat.

"You sound like her," Edward said with a motion toward the ceiling. "She swore I'd make a fair pirate if I weren't, how did she put it, 'a victim of good breeding.'"

Jack laughed at that. "Aye, I'd agree with that."

"You couldn't stand it either?" Will asked.

He shook his head. "Tried. I don't believe Elizabeth's ever going to let any of us live this down."

Jack shook his head. "Let her squawk."

"Are you going to be all right, Jack?" Will asked. "I've never seen you so quiet. You're starting to worry me."

He shook his head. "I'm an orphan. Have been since I was nigh onto five. I ever tell you that?" Will shook his head. "My family'sbeen history, long ago.Which is ideal for a pirate, really. It's just," he shrugged helplessly.

"Pearl is your only family," Will filled in.

"Aye. And she's been there for me so long, whether I wanted her around or no, it's hard to imagine trying to get along without her. Even when she was in Tortuga she was always anxiously waitin' for me to turn up so we could sail off. But that ain't the whole of it." He sighed, running a hand back through his tangled locks. "We live dangerous lives. Really, it's a miracle we're both still breathin'. I always figured I'd go first. Shot taking a ship or hung," he said, motioning toward Norrington. "Pictured my girl at the helm hunting down whoever did it and takin' her revenge. Same as I'd do if someone killed her. Or kidnaped her to ransom, although I'd feel sorry for that person. But this. I can't haul up anchor and chase some fever across the high seas. I can't run to me dear lass' rescue. I don't know how to fight this!"

"You've done the best you can," Norrington surprised them both by breaking in. "You've brought her to where she can get the best care. Now we just have to leave it up to her. Besides, she's far too stubborn to be beaten by some fever. We just have to have faith."

"I'm not a religious person," Jack answered, glancing upward as if waiting to be crushed by an angry deity. "And I'm not inclined to become one, what with the fates that be trying to take the only thing I've ever been given free of charge."

Norrington shook his head. "I'm afraid you're a lost cause, Jack."

"Funny, I was about to say the same about you," Jack shot back, a shadow of his old humor creeping in, although the absence of his usually unconquerable grin ruined it.

"It's late," Norrington remarked, standing. "I'll come by tomorrow to see how things are going. In the mean time do me a favor, Jack, and try to stay out of sight."

The man nodded as Will led Norrington to the door. "She'll pull through," Will said. "It may be a hard fight but, you know."

"Pearl wouldn't have it any other way," Norrington said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Will."

As Will returned to the parlor a maid hurried by carrying a covered bowl. "I think they're done, Jack. Shall we go back up?"

Jack seemed distant as he followed Will upstairs. The surgeon passed them with a promise to visit the next morning. Elizabeth was carefully tucking Pearl's arm back beneath the covers as they entered. She stood to hug her husband. "Jack, I've asked the maids to prepare a room if you would like-"

"No," he interrupted. "I'm going to stay up with her. You two should go to bed."

Elizabeth started to argue but Will drew her carefully out of the room. "He has to work through this," he sighed to his wife. "Look, there isn't anything pressing at the forge tomorrow. I'll stay here with you two. And he's right, we should get some sleep. We have to be there for both of them, after all."

Sighing heavily Elizabeth nodded and allowed her husband to lead her to their bedroom.

Author's note: Sorry, it's short. I know. But getting started can be hard, especially with school and work on my tale. One more thing. I noticed something in the movie which makes me very angry. I have no idea how many earrings Captain Sparrow has. The wig always covers his ears. Isn't that weird? It was for the story, you sick scallywags. Now review or you get no elf.


	2. From Bad to Worse

Braving the Flames 

Chapter 2

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's a present. A nice long one.

It was mid-morning by the time Norrington could escape his work to go to the Turner's residence. He was greeted at the door by a harried-looking maid. Before he could ask to come in Elizabeth appeared behind her. Her appearance gave him pause.

She was wearing a worn work gown, an apron tied over it. Water was splashed down her front and hair escaped the cap on her head. Her face looked drawn and tired, her eyes holding just a note of panic.

"Elizabeth, what's the matter?" he demanded, pressing past the maid to better see the woman.

"Oh, Edward," she sighed, moving into his arms to hug him. He drew her close, patting her back. "The surgeon's been and gone. He says she's grown worse. We're trying to sweat it out."

Norrington felt his throat close. In his years on the ships nine men under his command had come down with fevers so bad they had to sweat it out. Six of these men had died. One had returned to work on the ship as if nothing had happened after a good rest. One had lost the use of his legs. That one, confined away from the sea he loved, had wasted away within the year. The final one had lost the use of his faculties, babbling nonsense near constantly. Norrington didn't care for the odds.

But none of them were Pearl Sparrow, he reminded himself. The most stubborn woman alive. Surely she would pull through this. "May I see her?" he asked.

Elizabeth nodded, leading him up the stairs. "You may wish to take off your coat. We have the fire fully stoked. 'Tis blisteringly hot."

He nodded, shrugging it off as they moved. "Wig as well, I imagine," he remarked. "Even unconscious that woman is managing to undress me."

"Edward, that is a frightfully inappropriate thought," Elizabeth said with mock disapproval.

"Yes, well, Pearl would be delighted," he told her with a smile he didn't feel as she opened the door and led him into the room.

The heat hit him as soon as he entered the room. William sat beside the bed with a basin of water and a rag. He was dressed very simply in brown trousers and a white shirt left open in the heat. There wasn't a speck of sweat on him--as a blacksmith working in the Caribbean he was accustomed to heat. "Edward," he greeted with a nod as the man approached to look at the girl over his shoulder.

She was still pale, sweat standing out on her face despite Will's constant attention. Her eyes remained shut, hair flopping limply around her head, luster lost in the greasiness of sick-sweat. Her beads and bobbles were gone. Her head moved a bit as if she longed to escape the many blankets that trapped in the heat.

"The surgeon says she may begin hallucinating," Will told him, watching her muted movements.

"Where's Jack?" Norrington asked.

"The Pearl," Elizabeth answered. "He said his daughter would skin him if he neglected his ship in favor of her. He's going to send them out to Tortuga for a while."

Edward nodded. "It's a good idea. Now if we could just get Jack cleaned up so no one knows him."

Will snorted. "Good luck with that."

As if the discussion had summoned him Jack appeared, muttering, "Bloody pirates," under his breath.

"Something the matter, Jack?" Elizabeth asked.

"They won't go," Jack announced settling onto the edge of the bed. "They say the Pearl won't sail without its captain. What's more, Gibbs and Annamaria are throwing a fit. They want to come visit."

"They can't," Elizabeth put in. "We have enough trouble keeping you under wraps."

"Which is what I told them," Jack answered with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry. They're staying put."

"Where are you anchored?" Norrington asked. Jack looked up as if noticing him for the first time, then narrowed his eyes. "I could pull the navy away from them. If I wanted you dead you'd be in the noose by now," he added.

Jack continued to consider him. "Pearl would tell you to trust him," Elizabeth put in.

"We would tell you trust him," Will added. Elizabeth nodded agreement as Norrington and Jack both stared at him in aparent astonishmen. Will shrugged. "He's never steared us wrong before."

"To the east, there's a little cove. Not too big, but the Pearl's easy enough to stear around. There's a reef around it, beside this rocky jutting."

Norrington's eyebrows rose. "I know what you're talking about. We've always left it alone because we assumed no ship big enough to cause trouble could get in there."

Jack grinned and shrugged. "She's a nimble little ship."

Norrington shook his head. "I don't care how nimble she is, that takes some serious work. I'm impressed."

Jack grinned for a moment, before his eyes fell back on his daughter. Just like that he seemed to deflate, sparkle and smile both fleeing from his face. "Oh, my Pearl," he sighed out.

"Would you like to get some sleep, Jack?" Elizabeth asked. "You must be exhasted, sitting up with her all night."

Jack shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Good. Because there's something else we want to discuss with you," Elizabeth said, stubborness creaping into her voice.

Jack eyed her suspiciously. "What's that, luv?"

"Jack!" Will cried out. "What did I tell you about calling my wife 'luv'?"

"I call my daughter luv, Will. It's a term of endearment, not an ovature. What're you after, Lizzie?"

"Don't call me Lizzie," Elizabeth ordered.

Jack threw his hands into the air. "All right. From now on I'll refer to you simply as 'hey you.' What're you aiming at getting at, hey you?"

"It would be much easier for you to come and go if you would let us clean you up," Elizabeth pointed out. "People come to visit as well, and they did try to hang you publicly."

"HE tried to hang me publicly," Jack corrected, mosioning toward Norrington, who was rolling his eyes.

"The point is, you could be recognized." When he looked less than convinced she added, "And if you're recognized people will start asking questions about Pearl."

He sighed heavily, then a grin suddenly split his face. "I suppose you're going to insist on standing over me and watchin' me scub every inch of myself, eh?"

"Jack!" Will cried.

"Sorry mate," Jack said quickly. "Maybe you could get one of your lovely maids to fill in?"

Norrington rolled his eyes again. "Why am I not surprised? Your daughter is sweating to death and you're chaising maids about."

Jack turned on him suddenly, eyes flashing. "Don't presume to know what my daughter's condition is doing to me. At least I have a reason for being here. What has she ever done but turn you away?"

"Jack!" Elizabeth interupted. "That was totaly uncalled for. I know you're hurting, but that's no reason to pick at Edward! He's only trying to help." Jack looked properly chastized although the coldness didn't leave his eyes as he regarded Norrington.

"As for you," Elizabeth continued, "you will bathe yourself, but that's the least of it. I need to cut your hair and get rid of those earings, and the rings, and get you a shave."

"Stop!" Jack cried. "Belay that!"

"Belay what?" Elizabeth asked.

"All of it! I'm no bloody nobleman! And I've spent years getting my goatee--"

"The idea," Elizabeth cut him off, "is to convince people that you're my uncle. Why else are they going to believe you're spending so much time around here, worried about Pearl?"

"Well, I'm just not doing it, luv. What do you say to that?"

"I'm sorry, Jack, and give my best to the crew on the Pearl. I can't let you remain here in that condition. For Pearl's good, if not yours." She ended the last part with a firm nod.

"By all the winds in the sea, luv, you wouldn't!" Jack cried.

"I'd have to. I have to do what's best for her."

After a few moment's consideration Jack stood. "You know how to push me, Lizzie, I'll give you that. Come now, quickly, before I change my mind."

With a satisfied grin Elizabeth led the captain out of the room. Norrington shared a look with Will and settled himself into a chair. "You have guts, marrying that woman. I'll give you that."

"She only uses her powers for good," Will told him with a smile.

"I'd still be worried if I were you," he returned.

Will shrugged. "That's what makes life interesting. Shhh, Pearl, it's all right," he whispered to the woman who had just made a little noise, dabbing at the sweat on her forehead.

Suddenly her eyes snapped to him, opening crystal clear. Will looked down at her in surprise. "Pearl?"

She coughed, eyes searching his face as a smile suddenly appeared. "Am I dead?"

"No, Pearl. You're not dying. You're going to be fine."

She laughed softly. "You were always a really bad lier, Bill. To me anyway." She coughed again as Will worked his mouth, trying to find the right thing to say to a delutional victim of a fever that could be her death who was convinced he was his deceased father. "Should have known you'd be the one to come and get me. Mind telling me if we're going up or down?"

"You're not going anywhere," Will managed. "You're not dying. It isn't your time yet." She shook her head, eyes closing as she lay back against the pillow. "Pearl?" he asked. "Pearl, can you hear me?"

She lay, still and unresponsive as before. Will looked up at Norrington, obviously shaken. "The surgion said the delutions would probably start soon. Maybe we shouldn't mention it to Jack."

Norrington nodded his agreement. "God send that she makes it," he whispered.

"Amen," Will finished.

After a few minutes Will asked, "Do you love her?"

Norrington startled a bit at the question, but found that he couldn't deny Will's eyes. They had always been so honest. The man couldn't hide his feelings for anything in the world. Now they showed concern mixed with curiosity.

Finally Norrington shrugged. "I did three months ago, for all the good it did me. Perhaps I still do. I care about her. I know that much."

"And Maggie?"

"Maggie is one of the sweetest, kindest girls I've ever met," he edged.

"But do you love her?"

Norrington blinked at him. "I care for-"

"Do you love her?" Will demanded gently.

"I will, in time, I believe," he answered with a wave of his hand. "Pearl's made her feelings perfectly clear on the subject."

Will nodded again. "She's a pirate. She won't let herself love."

"That's the rumor."

They lapsed into silence, watching Pearl battle for a while. Finally Will sighed, popping his back. "I should get us some lunch. Would you mind taking over for a little bit?"

"Not at all," he agreed, taking the rag and settling next to the girl. Will left with a final cryptic grin.

He indulged in staring at her for a while. Three months ago he had decided that she was only ever truly peaceful in her sleep. Even when she was laughing merrily, which was often enough as a child of Jack Sparrow's, there was a guarded aspect of her eyes. She had been through enough in her fairly short life to leave her jaded and somewhat tormented, he had decided, even if she would never admit it. Now it was as if her inner demons plagued her even through her sleep.

"You have to come through this, Pearl," he told her. "After everything you've been through, you have to come through this." He paused to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "It's one thing for you to deny me and run off to sail. Even as dangerous as that is, at least I know you're alive. But you can't die here. You just can't."

"Best not say that." Norrington turned to find Elizabeth standing behind him. "She'll die just to prove you wrong."

"I wouldn't put it past her," he sighed. "Mostly I was hoping she'd sit up and start yelling at me." He wiped droplets from his own forehead.

"Where has Will gone?"

"Down to get us some lunch. Why?"

Elizabeth sighed heavily. "Someone has to sit over that man and watch him in the bath or he'll never get clean. I could certainly do it without seeing anything untorred, but that man is so insufferable it's hardly worth it. Would you care to volunteer?"

Norrington laughed. "No, I think I'll pass. I believe the opertunity would be far too rich for Jack to pass up utterly and totaly humiliating me."

"Well said. All right, I'm off after Will. I'll send a maid up with some lunch. Can you stay for a while?"

He nodded. "I dare say Gillette can handle things."

"If you feel you need to go just get a maid to watch her," Elizabeth ordered. "I will admit, I dislike the idea of leaving her with someone she doesn't know."

"Don't worry yourself over it, Elizabeth," he ordered.

Elizabeth disappeared then. The maid came a short time later with a light lunch. He ate it quickly, anxious to return to his ministrations on Pearl. He was starting to feel thouroughly soaked with sweat when the door opened to admit Elizabeth, a soaking wet Will, and another man that it took Norrington several minutes of staring to recognize as Jack Sparrow.

By Norrington's standards he was still dressed rather shabily in a white open-collared shirt, simple breaches, and a plain black belt to which his sword was attached. The bandana was gone, as were the earings and bangles in his hair, although many of the rings on his hands remained. His hair had been shorn off, fully brushed, and pulled into a dark tail at the base of his neck. The dark eye makeup was gone, as was the goatee, leaving him looking very clean shaven and even presentable.

As Norrington stared open-mouthed Jack pointed a pinky at him. "Not a word. I still have my sword, savvy?"

Norrington shrugged. "I haven't a thing to say."

"I don't think I like your tone," Jack said, narrowing his eyes in a familiar way.

"Oh, leave it alone, Jack," Elizabeth ordered. "One more time."

Jack groaned. "Luv, I'm begging you, leave off pestering me."

"One more time," Elizabeth insisted. "What's your name?"

"Jack."

"Jack what?" Elizabeth asked.

With a deep sigh Jack replied, with a very proper English accent, "Jackson Montgumery of Queen's Cove Island. Came over from London some ten years ago. My darling little niece, Bethany you know, was visiting when she took sick. Well, I knew none could care for her as my other darling niece could. Bethany has grown so found of her cousin, you know-"

"That's enough," Elizabeth cut him off as he gave her a satisfied grin.

"It's a little over the top," Will remarked.

"What do you expect of a pirate?" Norrington asked, standing to stretch. "If someone would like to take over I believe I should be getting back."

"Of course. Thank you for staying so long," Elizabeth said. "Come, I'll walk you out."

"Hey, wait, someone promised me rum!" Jack cried.

Elizabeth sighed. "No, we promised you lunch."

"Rum is lunch."

"No, food is lunch. Come on, we can swing by the kitchen."

The three of them trouped down the stairs as Norrington carefully adjusted his wig and put his coat back on. "I'm going to stink," he remarked.

"It's the Caribbean. I doubt anyone will notice," Elizabeth said.

She led him to the door and opened it only to squeak in surprise. Margaret Neats stood there, hand raised to knock.

Author's Note: Uh-oh. This could get ugly. And look, you finally meet Miss Neats! Isn't that great? I should give you a fair warning: the next chapter will be fairly dark if it goes the way I think it's going. Not with the Norrington-Maggie thing. Pearl takes a turn for the worse. Much worse. So hold onto your seats, hold onto your hats, and hope I finish my final papers quickly so I can get to writing the story.

One other thing: Dodge gets the elf first for pointing out my giant mistake in the last chapter. I've fixed it now. I should tell you, Norrington's necklace is firmly around PEARL's neck. I think most of you knew what I meant.

To the rest of the reviewers: Thank you so much. I could say this chapter got up faster because I'm not in school at the moment, but the real reason I felt so motivated were all of the reviews. Thanks guys!

Oh, and last thing (I promise). The first person to tell me where I got the name Jackson Montgumery gets the elf next.


	3. Engulfed

Braving the Flames 

Chapter 3

Author's Note: I'm very disappointed in you all. I should just keep the elf for myself. Each and every one of you are grounded until you watch at least a full week of "All My Children." I guess I'll award the elf to Rhyssa because she came the closest, came up with an answer I didn't even consider, and obviously likes country music. And I like her name.

Margaret Neats stood there, hand raised to knock. "Hello Elizabeth," she greeted with a very proper curtsy.

"Oh, Maggie, I'm so sorry. It completely slipped my mind that you were coming," Elizabeth said.

"That's quite all right. I see you have company already," she said, eyes fastened on Jack, who was grinning his most charming grin.

Stepping forward he scooped up her hand and raised it to his lips. "Lovely to meet you, my dear."

"And you, Sir," she answered with a curtsy.

"This is my uncle," Elizabeth cut in quickly, elbowing Jack. "He's brought my cousin in. She's frightfully ill."

"Oh, that's terrible!" Maggie cried. "Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?"

"No, no," Elizabeth said. "I believe we are doing the best we can. I fear I am simply in no fit state to entertain."

"Of course. Oh, Edward! What are you doing here?" she asked, spotting him for the first time.

"Just making sure everything is being handled smoothly. I happened to meet Bethany last time she was in town. I wanted to make sure everything was being done as best it could," he said, taking Maggie's arm and turning her back toward the street. "You will keep me informed, Elizabeth?"

"Absolutely," she assured him. "I apologize again, Maggie," she added.

"Not at all," Maggie called over her shoulder as Norrington led her away.

As the door closed Jack could barely be heard to say, "A bit reminiscent of my lass, isn't she?" before Elizabeth shushed him.

"Would you care to have some tea with me then, Edward?" Maggie asked as she hooked her arm through his and walked down the street with him.

"I'm afraid I can't. I must return to work. I am sorry."

"No at all," she answered with a wave of her white-gloved hand. "I understand. So how do you know Elizabeth's cousin?"

"Has anyone told you about the recent incident with Jack Sparrow?"

"I heard something," she answered. "He kidnaped Elizabeth and Will and her cousin. Oh, is this the same cousin?"

"Yes. Bethany Maltrey."

Maggie paused, biting at her lower lip. "You spent quite a lot of time with her, didn't you? Rescuing her and bringing her home and all."

"Enough, I suppose," he answered, trying to sound indifferent.

"Maggie!"

The sudden call came from their right. A rather pretty girl in pink rushed over to greet them with a curtsy and breathless, "Maggie, Commodore."

Both returned the greeting, answering, "Madeline," in unison.

"Are you going to tea?" she asked in a rush. "Would I be intruding to join you?"

"Actually, I must return to my duties," Norrington said quickly, removing his future wife's hand from his arm and offering it to Madeline. "But I believe I may leave her in your care."

"I would be delighted, Commodore," she answered.

"I shall see you soon, Maggie," he told her, kissing her hand and lingering to gaze into her eyes long enough to make her blush lightly before striding quickly down the street.

"Well, that was a bit rude," Madeline remarked.

"Oh, not at all," Maggie said with a shake of her head. "He's a terribly important man, and very busy."

"Well, it seems he shouldn't be leading you all over town if he's only going to abandon you," she said with a sniff as she led her friend toward the nearest café.

"Oh, no. It isn't like that at all. I merely ran into him at the Turners' home."

Madeline's eyebrows rose. "Whatever was he doing there in the middle of the day?"

"Visiting. It seems Elizabeth's cousin has taken very ill. Her uncle just brought the poor girl into town."

Madeline gripped Maggie's hand heavily. She loved nothing so much as an intrigue, and was a great collector of gossip. "Which cousin?"

"Bethany something, I believe he said."

"Not Maltrey?" Madeline asked, drawing her into a chair.

"I believe that was her name," Maggie said indifferently.

"Oh, Margaret, you poor dear!" Madeline cried. "You must be very careful now."

"Why ever should I do that?" Maggie asked.

"Don't you know? Don't you remember, my dear? Your darling Edward was quite in love with Miss Maltrey only some months ago."

"Surely not," Maggie argued.

"Aye. He would dance with no one else at the Turners' wedding. But you were sick that evening, I remember, so you'd not remember that. But then she was kidnaped and he sailed off to save her. Why, when they returned Miss Maltrey was terrified of her own shadow. She clung to Edward so! And then she left in such a hurry! I heard tell that he proposed to her and she ran off in fright because she was afraid of her love for him."

"Madeline, that is the most absurd story I have heard from you in months."

"But it is true. Every word of it, I swear. And not two months later Edward asks for your hand. You must hold to him, Maggie! What if he falls in love with her yet again?"

"I have no worry for Edward's love of me," Maggie said with a lift of her chin to suggest that was that. As Madeline chatted on, however, she nipped at her bottom lip. Surely a little caution could not hurt.

As the day wore on there was no doubt that Pearl's condition was worsening. Her tremors became worse. Her moans became louder and more pronounced, small fits coming more and more frequent.

By the time the surgeon stopped that night she had become adept at throwing the heavy covers off with her arms.

The surgeon announced that delusions were normal enough. The fever was seeping into her brain. He suggested tying her hands to the headboard, but Jack stubbornly refused. He told Elizabeth and Will later that she was nearly twenty years old with no rope scars on her wrists-- an unusual thing for a pirate -- and he wasn't about to let that change.

In return poor Jack was forced to sit up with her overnight, trying to restrain her as her fits grew more violent. His reward was a black eye, two separate bloody noses, and the removal of one of his gold teeth. Elizabeth didn't seem overly concerned about the last part. The gold teeth had been one of the few things marking him a pirate she had been unable to hide.

Another day passed and the fits became fewer and less violent. While Will and Elizabeth took it as a good sign Jack seemed less than enthusiastic despite the bruises it saved him. They understood when the surgeon came and announced that the reason the attacks were less violent was because she was weakening. The little broth they managed to get into her from time to time wasn't enough to support a body being consumed by fever.

Norrington stopped in as often as he could, but never stayed long. Her weakness was becoming physically apparent. Her cheeks became sallow and almost transparent, her face losing its healthy glow as well as its shape as her eyes sunk and her cheek bones began to protrude. Her arms thinned as the fever consumed the muscles she'd spent years of hard labor on a ship building.

The attacks faded and stopped all together. Eventually she stopped moving entirely and soon after her breathing became labored.

The evening came when the surgeon's visit left him looking sadly at the group gathered around him. "I believe this night will decide it," he sighed. "Either she beats this fever tonight, or she will be too weak to continue."

"No," Will interrupted as Elizabeth turned to press her face into his chest. "You must be mistaken. I mean, this is the strongest woman in the world. She's fought so hard already."

"Well, she won't have to fight much longer, either way," the surgeon said. "There's nothing more I can do. It's up to her now. I'll return tomorrow morning to see how things have gone."

"She'll make it," Jack said when the surgeon left. He had retained his spot beside the bed, clinging to her thin, unresponsive hand.

"She has to," Norrington put in, smoothing the hair away from her face.

"You should go home, Edward," Elizabeth remarked, the tears running silently down her face coloring her words. "We could send word if anything happened."

"No," he said firmly. "I wouldn't be able to sleep. And my place is here, with her."

"She might argue that point," Elizabeth commented.

"Indeed she would," Jack put in.

Norrington shrugged. "If she wants to sit up this minute and tell me to leave I'll gladly go."

Jack smiled at that, reverently kissing her hand. He seemed older somehow. Perhaps with the make-up removed the wrinkles given to him by the sun seemed heavier, or maybe it was the fading tan from constantly remaining indoors, or perhaps it was the long nights sitting up with his daughter and only catching snatches of sleep. Or, most likely, it was just the stress of the situation. There was no doubt that the man who had survived mutiny and tracked down a crew of undead pirates to retake his ship was not handling his daughter's illness well.

They scattered themselves around the room to wait. Jack remained in his seat next to Pearl, keeping the bowl of water close to wipe the sweat from her face. Will took a large chair a little behind Jack and Elizabeth curled herself into his lap, leaning against his chest to keep silent watch. Norrington sat beside Pearl on the bed as long as he could bear it before crossing the room to the only remaining chair by the foot of the bed.

They sat in silence as the interminable hours passed, listening to the wet rattle of her breathing.

A few hours after midnight the wet rattle was permeated by a sigh and sudden silence.

Everyone in the room was beside the bed in a flash. "Luv?" Jack asked of his daughter, lightly slapping her cheek. He got no response from her still form.

"No," Elizabeth whispered, turning to cling to her husband.

"Jack, I'm sorry," Will whispered.

Author's note: Gasp I didn't. I didn't just kill Pearl, did I? I wouldn't bring her back just to kill her, would I? Or am I really that evil? Well, you'll just have to wait. Which is incredibly evil in and of itself, so you can just think about that. Remember, reviews make things go faster. They do increase my evil cackling, however. Mwa ha ha.


	4. From the Ashes

Braving the Flames 

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: All right, I'm done being mean. You get an update now. There are just a few things I wanted to mention first.

Someone said that Maggie was shaping up to look a lot like a Mary Sue, and I'm afraid I have to agree. And, because I respect you all, I have to justify it as well. The fact is, this is how women acted back then. I feel like I've cheated enough in this story that I should have someone in it that's historically accurate. The truth is, women couldn't sail, pirates were ruthless, bloodthirsty rapists, and Jack has syphilis (if you listen to Johnny Depp's commentary he mentions it). It isn't fair, but it's the way things were. Which is what makes writing fiction so fun. You can make your own idealized world. Here's mine. Also, I thought Maggie was just the ideal wife for Norrington. Sort of sweet and innocent.

I also had to mention the fact that I've completely ignored Norrington's name being James in the movie and turned him into Edward. I knew it had to be some boring, stuffy old English name, and I've never been fond of James. It's a long story, but I've known a few, never liked any of them, and hate one with a burning passion that would probably equal Jack's love for his ship. Plus I've changed the character so much (developed him, really, which you'll notice the movie didn't have enough time to do) that I sort of think of him as mine. So there. I'll let you read the story now.

Just to review (as if you would forget):

A few hours after midnight the wet rattle was permeated by a sigh and sudden silence.

Everyone in the room was beside the bed in a flash. "Luv?" Jack asked of his daughter, lightly slapping her cheek. He got no response from her still form.

"No," Elizabeth whispered, turning to cling to her husband.

"Jack, I'm sorry," Will whispered.

"Don't be," Jack ordered, suddenly springing into the bed. "Not yet."

Jumping up beside his daughter he pressed his mouth to hers, plugging her nose and blowing hard into her mouth before pulling back the covers to press at her chest.

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth demanded.

"Sailors do it sometimes," Norrington told her for him. "If a sailor has swallowed too much water."

"Will that work?" Will asked.

"It can't hurt!" Jack snapped. "Come on, luv. This ain't your time."

Several tense moments later Pearl suddenly gave a small gasp, followed by the return of the gasping rattle of her breathing.

They all sat in silence as her breathing firmed minutely before breathing sighs of relief. Jack lay his head down next to his daughter, looping an arm around her to pull her still, fragile form close. "Thank you, luv," he whispered. "Just a little longer. Please, just a little longer."

They settled back to their spots, letting the minutes pass, counting each rasping breath and being thankful, tense silence ringing through the air if she waited milliseconds longer than normal to draw her next breath.

Later Norrington would wonder exactly when sleep had crept up on him. There was no doubt that it was exhausting, sitting around waiting for Pearl to live or die. When he awoke sunlight was streaming through the open window. The room was cooler. The fire had been allowed to die and the window was left open to catch the morning breeze.

His eyes swept the room as he tried to get his bearings. Will was asleep in the chair to his right. Jack was asleep in his chair leaning forward onto the bed, head resting next to Pearl's hand, which he still clutched. There was no sign of Elizabeth anywhere.

With a start everything came flooding back to him. His heart dropped when he realized he could hear no rasping gasps of breath coming from the bed.

"No," he whispered, carefully approaching the bed. She looked like an angel, even pale as she was. The sunlight gave her an ethereal look that the flaming red hair only heightened. Tears came to his eyes as he looked down at the still form.

Suddenly she shifted, a soft sigh falling from her lips. Not a moan of anguish or cry of fever nightmares, but a real and true sleeping sound. She shifted a bit, turning her closed eyes away from the light.

A choked laugh of joy escaped his lips.

A firm hand suddenly rested on his shoulder and he found Jack sitting up, looking at him with a knowing half-smile. Norrington realized it was the most serious look he'd ever seen on Jack's face while Pearl was safe. "Her fever broke just at dawn. Right when the sun peaked over the ocean. Her breathing firmed up less than an hour later."

"Has she woken?" he demanded.

"Nah. Still exhausted. We thought we'd better let her sleep."

"Thank God," Norrington whispered. "All glory in the highest."

Jack frowned at that. "You're fairly quick to praise someone that let her get to this point in the first place."

"It is not given to us to understand God's plan, merely to follow it," he answered easily.

Jack shook his head. "If she had died I would have punched you for saying that."

"But she didn't," Norrington pointed out.

Jack stood with a heavy sigh. "Save your higher reasoning for someone who buys it, priest. If there is a God he's no use for the likes of us. From what I've read He's already damned us to hell."

"Anyone can be forgiven anything," he pointed out.

Jack shrugged indifferently. "Some day I guess we'll find out. At the moment I'm just glad my daughter isn't learning that lesson right now."

"Good morning," Elizabeth greeted as she swept into the room. "I brought toast for you," she commented, setting down the tray. "And warm broth for Pearl."

"We should let her sleep," Jack argued.

Norrington read the worry in Jack's voice as easily as the pitying look in Elizabeth's eyes. If anything was wrong they would know it when she awoke. She had lived, but that was no guarantee that her body wasn't damaged in some unknown way. "It's time, Jack. She needs to eat," Elizabeth said gently.

"What's wrong?" Will asked, rubbing at his eyes.

"It's time to wake Pearl," Elizabeth said simply with a smile for her husband. Will nodded. Jack turned to watch with something close to a pout.

She turned and sat neatly on the edge of the bed, gently shaking the girl. "Pearl? It's time to wake up now."

Pearl moaned, eyes opening to cloud with confusion. "Elizabeth?" she asked, voice a rough combination of dry throat and scratchiness left over from screaming in fever dreams. She groaned as she shifted, muscles obviously sore form misuse and a baking fever. Norrington was relieved to see her feet shift beneath the covers. "Where am I? What happened? Holy hell, what's wrong with Jack?!" The last was yelled as she caught sight of her father's cleaned and slightly aged face. The green tinge of the black eye she had given him remained.

Elizabeth laughed. "You're in Port Royal. You've had a horrible fever. We had to sweat it out."

"How long was I out?"

"Five days," Jack said.

"Bloody hell," she muttered.

"You need to eat something," Elizabeth said. "You'll be horribly weak."

"My favorite state," she muttered.

"Better than dead, Fledgling" Jack said.

Pearl chuckled at that. "You haven't called me that in ten years."

Jack shrugged. "Here let me help you sit up."

Norrington, from his spot on the other side of the bed, moved to help as well. "Edward?" She sounded surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"You nearly died last night," he told her. "Where else would I be?"

"At home with your wife, if you were smart."

"Fiancé," he corrected. "We aren't married yet."

"It's a good start," Pearl said. "Good God, I can barely move! How the bloody hell am I going to sail on a ship?"

"You aren't," Jack answered. "You aren't to go near the Pearl for at least a month. That's an order, from your captain since I know you won't obey your father."

"I'm not very good at obeying my captain, for that matter," she pointed out.

"That's why the crew has orders not to let you on board. And if any of them think of disobeying Anamaria and Gibbs will set them straight."

She sighed heavily, reaching for the bowl with a shaking hand. Elizabeth pulled it out of her grip quickly. "No you don't. You're not slopping this all over yourself."

"Elizabeth," Pearl ground out, "I would rather starve to death than sit here and let you feed me."

"Give it here," Jack ordered before Elizabeth could retort. "Why don't you and Will show the good Commodore out?"

Elizabeth started to argue but her husband took her firmly by the elbow and led her toward the door with a motion for Norrington to follow. In the hall he pecked his protesting wife on the forehead. "She'd never let Jack feed her in front of us," he told her gently. "She has her pride."

"She nearly died! She's no stronger than a babe now!" Elizabeth argued. "And we've been feeding her ourselves all week."

"Think about it," Will told her. "She's a female pirate. She's spent her life fighting for that, trying to prove she's as strong as any of the men, which she was. Imagine how hard it's going to be for her to admit that isn't the case any more."

"It's something she'll do in front of Jack," Norrington filled in. "But not us."

Will shrugged. "He is her father."

Norrington sighed. "I should stop at home to change before I go into the office. Take care of her?"

"Always," Elizabeth assured him. "You'll stop by later?"

"As soon as I have time," he assured her. "Tell her?"

"We will," Elizabeth assured him as he let himself out.

Norrington was just finishing the last of the paper work that had piled up when a knock sounded at his door. "Come in," he called around a yawn. Looking around he realized it had grown dark as he worked and that he should light a lamp. As he searched for one the door opened to admit an immaculately dressed Lady. He couldn't help but grin at the shy smile his future wife gave him.

"Maggie! I'm so glad you came. I meant to visit you this afternoon but things got busy." Finding his lamp he set to lighting it as he motioned to a chair. "Sit, please. I'll be headed toward home soon. Can I interest you in some supper?"

She looked at him oddly. "I ate already, thank you." Glancing up at the clock he realized that it really was rather late. No wonder he was so tired, he mused as he sat. At this rate he'd make himself sick.

"Is something wrong? It's unlike you to come out this late."

She looked down, toying with her gloves. Coming around the desk Norrington kneeled before her chair. Obviously something was upsetting her. "What's the matter, Maggie?"

"Well," she began, looking down at him, then suddenly away. "Well, it's only a matter of, I mean, I don't wish to be a bother."

"Maggie, we're going to be married. I would be exceedingly happy if you would worry less about bothering me. I want you to be happy, and I can't see to that if I don't know what's the matter."

"It's a small thing, to be certain. And I do trust you. I do, Edward. But it has been weighing on me."

"What has?" he asked. "Is it the work? I've told you that my first responsibility is to the crown and--"

"No, it isn't that," she assured him. "I understand that. It's Elizabeth's cousin. I understand you spent a good deal of time with her, and you still are. Madeline said you were quite in love with her. That you asked her to marry you. And now you spend all sorts of time at the Turners' home, watching over her. I am sorry but I can't help but worry."

Norrington sighed, trying to think how to best approach the subject. He'd known that sooner or later the subject would come up, he simply hadn't expected it so soon. He forgot sometimes how quick-witted Maggie was.

"First of all, Madeline is a gossip," he remarked. "Secondly, it is true that I spent a great deal of time with Bethany before. She said I was a great deal of comfort to her. Seeing as how she very nearly died last night, I thought perhaps I could be of some comfort to her now." He took Maggie's hand, drawing her eyes to his. "If it bothers you, dearest, then I won't go over there any longer. She survived the night, so the surgeon has said she will recover. But I want you to remember to whom I am promised. We will be married before winter comes."

"You wouldn't change your mind?" she asked. "You promise?"

"I promise. Again, I promise, as I did the day I asked you to marry me. We will be wed. Nothing on earth could change my mind. Not if Bethany Maltey threw herself at me and begged me to marry her. Which, incidentally, I assure you she will not. I am a man of my word."

She smiled down at him. "I didn't doubt you. I truly didn't. Circumstances being what they are I just, you know, it's nice to hear."

"Then I shall have to remind you more often," he told her, kissing her cheek before standing to pull her to her feet. "Come, I shall walk you home. If we stay any longer Madeline will start a rumor about the horrible things we are doing in here." Maggie giggled as he folded her hand around his arm and led her out.

He would visit Pearl tomorrow, he promised himself. Maggie obviously didn't object, she just needed a little reassurance. And he promised himself he would give it to her often as she needed it. He would marry Margaret, and Pearl would be a thing of the past soon enough. He was a man of his word, and there was nothing Pearl Sparrow could do about that. Not that he thought she would. She had encouraged him to this end.

"Do you ever wish I were someone else?" Maggie asked through a blush as they walked down the street. He groaned inwardly. Hadn't they just had this conversation? "I don't mean just Bethany Maltrey. I'm hardly the Governor's daughter. And I know I'm not as beautiful as Elizabeth Turner--"

He pulled her to a stop, turning her to look at him. She kept her eyes studiously down, until her took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him. "Margaret, you are incredibly beautiful. I asked Elizabeth Swann to marry me because I felt it was time I had a wife, and she seemed a good choice. Knowing what I know now, knowing how she loves William, I am exceedingly glad she did not allow me to make that mistake. And seeing the wife I'll have in you, I am doubly glad. I have no doubt that we shall make an infinitely better match. I do not now, nor have I ever, nor shall I ever, wish you were Elizabeth Swann."

She pressed forward into his arms, burying her head in his chest in a display that was just short of inappropriate. "Thank you, Edward. Thank you so much!"

He rubbed her back, laying a kiss on her head. "Any time, Maggie. Come, let's get you home. I fear you've exhausted yourself worrying needlessly."

She nodded, walking closer to him all the way home.

Author's Note":

There you go. And shame on anyone who thought I would really kill her off. Of course I wouldn't. I love her as much as you do. More, probably. But I don't think I fooled many of you, if any.

I must say, I think I spoil all of you. I finally break down and start offering my treasured elf to people and you want Jack again. Demanding! So whoever answers my next question gets their pick of whoever they want. Except Will, because I do love you all but it isn't worth braving Elizabeth's anger. And Edward because he obviously belongs to Pearl. And Maggie too, I guess. A little.

My question comes from my near-fanatical obsession with the DVD. In the extra scenes, when Jack is explaining to Elizabeth how he got off the island before she asks him if any of the stories are true. In response he shows her his various scars. The brand I get, obviously, and the gunshot wounds on his chest. But what the heck is wrong with his left arm? Someone suggested maybe he had slit his wrist and bled until they let him go, but the weird white scars seem to follow the veins too closely. Someone else said poison, but it seems to me that he would have to do this in an effort to escape, and poison doesn't seem like something he would have on hand. Besides, why would it center on his arm? They didn't exactly have hypodermic needles back then. So there it is. I must know. So tell me!


	5. Future Plans

Braving the Flames  
  
Chapter 5  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine, and I have a bank account balance of $2.18 and $10,000 in college debt, so I'd suggest suing someone else because going after me would be a waist of money.  
  
Author's note: Well, apparently you're all as clueless as me. Lovely. Well, the mystery of Jack's left arm, as I shall now call it, shall have to remain a mystery. Too bad. I'm going to have to give Nightfox the elf because she found out my secret reason for making Norrington's fiance's name Margaret.   
  
As taken from americanbaby.com:  
  
Margaret:   
  
Origin: "Greek"   
  
Meaning: pearl   
  
Traits: Despite all of the queens with this name, Margaret does not have a royal image. Rather, Margaret is seen as a solid, matronly woman who is smart, hardworking, quiet, and strong-willed.   
  
Sound familiar?  
  
Although I'm looking into Kit's suggestion to try to find out if the elf has any brothers I could steal to keep the rest of you happy. Or keep them both for myself. I like that idea too. We'll just have to see what comes up. It's slow going, though. He doesn't speak too much English so he seems to think I should learn Sindarian (I think that's how you spell that). I would teach him English, but then he might get away. And I'm sorry to Captain Cheesehead for giving you a question that bothered you, but it's bothering me too, so there. I'm glad you're all glad Pearl is alive. This is a short update, but it works.  
  
The first break Norrington had the next morning he took to walk down to the Turners' home. He had promised to have dinner with Maggie's family that night, and he was anxious to hear what the surgeon had said about Pearl's condition.   
  
Elizabeth greeted him at the door, inviting him in. "Pearl's awake," she informed him. "She tried to stand yesterday and managed to fall flat on her rear end. Will had to put her back in bed. We keep telling her she can't expect to just bounce back. And she keeps screaming that she could at least retain the ability to walk."   
  
As she spoke a commotion could be heard upstairs. They turned to find Jack carrying his daughter down the stairs, firmly wrapped in blankets, as a maid squawked at him and a chuckling Will followed. "Jack!" Elizabeth cried. "I told you she was not under any circumstances to leave the bed!"   
  
"It's okay Lizzie," Pearl chirped. "I'm only going to sit in the parlor and read my book. If I stay in that room upstairs one more moment I'll go crazier, and I'm actually quite happy with my level of insanity at the moment."   
  
"I'll second that," Jack remarked, turning into the parlor. "Besides, I made her promise to have absolutely no fun," he added.   
  
"Indeed," Pearl sighed before catching sight of Norrington. Holding a hand out to him she added, "Care to help me break my promise, Edward?"   
  
"Now we know she's feeling better," Will remarked, wrapping a soothing arm around his wife's shoulder. "She's feeling well enough to flirt so we know she's in no danger of dying."   
  
"Mind your mouth," Jack ordered as he tucked the blankets carefully around her on the couch he had settled her on. "That's an ancient Sparrow family secret you're giving away there."   
  
"Besides, I'm engaged now," Norrington put in.   
  
"And so?" Jack and Pearl said at the same time.   
  
"Come now, you can't be serious," Norrington said.   
  
Pearl shrugged. "I'm a pirate. It's all about the details. You haven't taken any vows so you're still fair game."   
  
Rolling his eyes he turned to Elizabeth. "What did the surgeon say?"   
  
"That she's too stubborn to die," Jack said. "And it's a small wonder, really. Obnoxious as she it doesn't seem so surprising that neither the devil below nor the good Lord above would want her."   
  
"He didn't say that," Norrington contradicted.   
  
"Actually, he did," Will said. "I'm afraid Pearl was far more cooperative unconscious."   
  
"My mother would get three doubloons in Tortuga for what he wanted to do to me!" she cried.   
  
"He's a surgeon," Elizabeth put in.   
  
"I don't care if he's the bloody King of Timbuktu, he ain't getting a free show off of me." A nasty grin crossed her face as her eyes returned to Norrington. "Edward, on the other hand--"   
  
"Any luck with the country house?" Will broke in to ask Elizabeth.   
  
"I'm afraid not," Elizabeth sighed. "My aunt sold it last summer."   
  
"What about a country house?" Norrington asked.   
  
"Oh, the surgeon said she would recover more quickly if we could get her out into the country," Will put in. "We haven't had any luck getting permission from anyone with a country home, however."   
  
"Personally, the further we get her away from the sea the better I'll feel. She'll be considerably less likely to jump a ship and ride into the sunset," Jack put in.   
  
"Aren't you going to contradict him?" Norrington asked of Pearl, who had opened her book and begun reading with an air of total indifference.   
  
"No," she answered. "He's actually quite right."   
  
Norrington studied her for several moments. So long, in fact, that she abandoned her reading to return his stare. "What?"   
  
"I'm trying to decide whether I trust you or not."   
  
She looked up at him in apparent confusion and he silently claimed victory for having gotten one over on Pearl Sparrow. "I beg your pardon?"   
  
"My mother had a country home. It was part of her dowery. As she's deceased, and my father, it is technically mine. I've never visited it myself, but there's no time like the present I suppose."   
  
"Maggie won't like it," Elizabeth put in. After receiving several heated looks she added, "Well, he is nearly married. It's high time he started thinking of these things."   
  
"Nonsense," Jack and Pearl said in the same breath. Their eyes met and identical grins broke over their faces as they both shook their heads and said, "Nobles and their silly ideas."   
  
"You two have been together way too long," Will remarked.   
  
"Now he sounds just like Bill," she informed Jack, who nodded firm agreement.   
  
"How far is it?" Elizabeth asked. "She isn't up for any long rides."   
  
Norrington shrugged. "Ten, twelve hours. I'd wager she could manage it."   
  
"I should go get Diamond," Jack put in. "She'll skin me alive for not coming to get her when you first fell sick as it is."   
  
"You took me to the nearest place I could get care and stood by me," Pearl answered. "She'll thank you for it. Mark my words."   
  
"I should write them to let them know I'm coming," Norrington added. "I hate to think what disrepair the place must be in. Although it can't be too terribly bad. I get reports every few months and the farm lands seem to be turning a profit. They've only ever asked me for money once, and then it was repaid in full the next year. I've never had reason to inquire after them."   
  
Jack and Pearl shared a look. "Sounds like an excellent breeding ground for vipers," Pearl remarked.   
  
"If they were pirates, perhaps," Elizabeth spoke up. "These are quiet country folk. So long as Edward lets them well enough alone they've no reason to dislike him. And surely a little visit won't do it."   
  
"I should hope not," he answered, looking suspiciously at the Sparrows.   
  
"I'll leave tomorrow, first thing," Jack announced. "I should be back by the next morning."   
  
"We could leave the day after," Norrington said. "Everything should be in order by then. You'll come as well, won't you Elizabeth? Will?"   
  
"I don't see why not," Elizabeth said with a shrug.   
  
"I don't think there's anything at the smithary that can't wait," Will put in. "Will you be able to get away from your duties, Edward?"   
  
He shrugged. "Gillette's been wishing for more work, and I am going to be a married man soon so I suppose it's high time I gave him the chance."   
  
Author's Note: What a surprise. Pearl hasn't given up on Norrington, and they're running off to his nice, quiet country estate. Possibilities abound. In the mean time, I have a test on Thursday I should be studying for, work this weekend in addition to my normal weekly load, and finals next week. In short, I'm afraid it might be a bit before you see a new chapter. I promise, I'll get to it as soon as I can. And who knows, maybe I'll even surprise myself! 


	6. Preparation

Braving the Flames 

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not mine. Big surprise.

Author's note: I never should have asked that question because now I have a dilema. I have two people I was to give my elf to. Oh well. I'll just have to give one of you the elf, and the other one gets Jack until the elf comes available. So, for a perfectly reasonable answer I gift him first to pendragginink. I thought they took blood from the veins on the inside of the elbow joint, but I suppose the other veins would be perfectly acceptable as well. As for the Anamaria thing, I don't think he knew her long enough to make her protective over him (probably just long enough to steal her boat–Jack doesn't seem to be the sort to stick around) although I wouldn't put it past one of his more, ahem, intimate friend. As for Ashley Weber, I'm going to have to give you Jack until pendragginink is done with my elf. Mostly I'm giving him to you just to appease you. Although probably not the most feasable answer in the world, it did scare the heck out of me. I mean, ow. You stay away from me with hollowed out bone needles and boiling water. And my elf. Be nice to him or else.

And now, on to the story:

Two days later Norrington sat on the beach, looking out at the cove that served Port Royale. Jack had made arangements to send the Black Pearl back to Tortuga for the few months they would spend rehabilitating his daughter, leaving himself and Diamond in a rowboat to get themselves into town. Norrington had wanted to escort them to the Turners' just to make sure there were no problems.

A rowboat apeared in the entrance to the harbor. It slowely grew larger until he could make out a man and a woman. He could hear Diamond's light laughter as they drew closer.

He saw Jack pause as they caught sight of him in his blue coat. From that distance he could be any member of the English Navy out to pick up a wayward pirate. It was a test of sorts to see how much Jack trusted him.

Apparently he trusted him enough because he only paused for a moment before continuing toward him. Despite the drunken sway to the pirate's movements Jack's strokes were strong and sure and brought them quickly over. Norrington stepped into the water to help pull the boat up on shore and offer Diamond a hand out of the boat. As soon as her feet were firmly on dry land Diamond jumped on him, wrapping her arms around him to pull him into a close hug.

"Thank you so much, lad, for being there for her," she said. "I can't tell you what it means to me."

Laughing, Jack found his own way onto the shore. "Leave off him, luv. He's a Commodore. Stiff upper lip and all that. He may disintigrate if he were forced to show any emosion. Asides, I haven't heard a single 'thank you' from you yet, and I saved her life. I know you're desperately in love with me, but it never hurts a man to hear it."

Diamond sniffed. "As far as I'm concerned the entire situation is YOUR fault, dragging my poor girl onto that ship of yours. And don't you start in on me about her making her own choices. She never would have gotten the idea without you. At any rate I'm ignoring you only because I'm anxious to see my little girl," she told him, sending him a nasty glance.

"I'll take it," Jack answered, leading the way off of the beach. "Although she isn't a little girl any more. She's plenty capable of caring for herself. And I know how much you love me whether you admit it or not."

"Caring for herself?" Norrington asked. "She can hardly stand."

"She'll get there," Jack assured him.

Diamond sniffed. "If she were so capable of caring for herself she wouldn't have gotten sick."

"She made it through though," Jack answered proudly.

"Not really," Norrington put in. "She was dead, after all."

Jack turned on him suddenly, eyes widening, gesturing wildly for him to be quiet. He was confused until he saw the startled look Diamond was giving him. "Dead?" she repeated. "My little girl was bloody DEAD?"

"Only for a minute, luv," Jack broke in.

"A minute?! My daugher was dead for a minute?!"

"Y' know, it's funny, I didn't tell you because I thought you might react badly," Jack remarked, making one of his winding steps a bit deeper into some bizare sort of bow as he waved his spread hands about her stricken face. "I don't know where I got such a silly idea," Jack commented, throwing Norrington a dirty look.

Diamond stomped over to glare at the pirate. Jack took a step back holding his hands up defensively, fingers curling as he eyed her carefully, sending a short glance down to his sword as if he wished to draw it. "You weren't going to tell me that my daughter died because you were afraid I might react badly?" Diamond repeated.

"That was the general idea. It's no harm. She's alive and well now."

"Now?" Diamond repeated. "Now? I'll 'now' you, you bloody pirate!" she yelled, slapping him across the cheek.

"Why does everyone DO that?" Jack asked. "Is there someone following me around teaching women how to bloody slap and then sending them after me? If you're going to slap someone why don't you slap the one as opened his big mouth?"

"Because at least he TOLD me," she answered. "Come on. I want to see my daughter, unless you forgot to mension that she's still dead because you were afraid I might 'react badly.'"

"No, luv, I think you'd catch onto that sooner or later," he remarked.

"I am sorry," Norrington put in as they set out again. "I assumed you had told her."

"Do us both a favor, Norrinton," Jack ordered, leaning in close to the man who faught not to recoil at the awful breath. Jack had picked up some rum somewhere along the line, no doubt about that. "Never assume anything, especialy when it comes to me."

"You'd think I'd have learned that lesson by now," he remarked.

"Are you comming?" Diamond, who had gotten ahead of them, called back.

"Aye, luv, pearl o' me eye and joy o' me heart," Jack called back. The glare Diamond threw back at him was a bit softer compared to the others. At Norrington's curious look he added, "Hell hath no fury," before trotting to catch up with the mother of his child and wrap his arm around her waist. Norrington nearly fell over when Diamond gave him nothing more severe than a flirtatious giggle for the infraction.

"You know, Diamond, your accent is really much better than I remember. I mean that as a compliment," he put in quickly at her look.

Diamond shrugged. "I can use a proper turn of phrase when it suits me. And being around such proper people," she sent a glance at his blue coat, "I felt it was warranted."

They walked in silence the rest of the way up to the Turner house, Norrington on guard for anyone looking suspitiously at Jack despite his changed appearance. No one did, the people of Port Royal going about their business as usual.

Once they reached the Turner residence Diamond refused to wait for the maid to open the door. She stormed imediately in. Jack led her toward the parlor but Norrington called, "She was upstairs in bed when I came to get you."

"She still is," Elizabeth called over the rail as she apeared on the marble stairs.

Diamond hurried up at the call, Elizabeth comming down to meet her half way. Diamond paused to hug the girl, taking her face in her hands. "I can't thank you enough, my dear, for carring for my darling daughter."

"Not at all," Elizabeth answered, taking her hand and leading her up to the girl's bedroom. "I consider myself very fortunate to call Pearl my friend, and Jack. It's the very least I could do after all the both of them have done for us."

Elizabeth opened the bedroom door, mosioning Diamond in ahead of her. Pearl looked up from her spot on the bed reading to grin at the older woman. "Hello mama," she greeted. Throwing back the covers she stood to hug the woman.

"How long has she been standing?" Jack asked, concern leaking into his voice.

"Since yesterday. She'll stand until her legs give out. She does better if someone supports her. She made Will stand with her for twenty minutes this morning. And she took a step with Norrington just before he went to get you."

"I missed her first step again," Jack sighed.

"It's all right," Elizabeth assured him. "She'll walk some more. And I might remind you that you did give her her sea legs. You've seen her first time on a ship, and that's what she's determined to do for the rest of her life. That is a momentus occation as well."

Jack chuckled, putting an arm around Elizabeth's waist to kiss her on top of the head in a very fatherly manner. "You always know just the right thing to say, luv."

"Well, I am a Lady of breeding," she answered. "Jack?"

"Yes luv?"

"Remove your hand," she ordered, swatting at the bejeweled fingers that were working their way lower. "You may ignore my protests but I would think you would have a care for Will's objections."

"Sorry, Lizzie. It's in my blood, I'm afraid. I'm a pirate and a scoundrel through and through," he said with a mocking bow.

Elizabeth shook her head at him. "But at least you're an honest scoundrel."

"You wound me," Jack objected, holding a hand over his heart as he moved away from her to take a seat. "I'll forgive you so long as you don't let it get around."

"I promise," Elizabeth chuckled.

"Oh, my love, I was so worried," Diamond said, helping her daughter settle back onto the bed before pulling back to reguard the girl. "Poor dear. You look awful."

Pearl laughed. "I know. I could hardly make two bits in the streets of Tortuga at the moment."

Diamond nodded agreement, brushing at her daughter's hair. "Lucky for us you're no prostitute, my dear. You'll gain it all back, at any rate."

"I'm not of much use as a pirate at the moment either," she sighed out.

"That's why we're trying you out as a country girl," Norrington put in.

"Which reminds me," Pearl said suddenly, turning to Elizabeth, "could you find some cloth and thread and pack it to take along? Reading is all well and good but I think I'd like to do something with my hands as much as anything else."

"You sew?" Norrington asked with a note of disbelief.

"Of course I sew. I mean, Jack sews," she said dismissively with a wave of her hand.

Jack shrugged at his close scrutiny. "Do I seem the sort to run off and find a taylor every time my shirt rips? And I don't let many people come after my cuts with needle and thread."

"I embroider," Pearl added, more for Elizabeth's benefit than anyone else's. "And knit if the mood strikes me. I still say that's the reason I'm so good at knots on the ship. That sort of thing comes naturaly, after a while."

Norrington shrugged. "I still have to wrap up some lose ends at the office. You get some rest. We leave early tomarrow." Crossing the room he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. She moved at the last minute to capture his lips. He pulled away quickly as Diamond chuckled. "I told you I'm engaged," he scolded.

"I told you I don't care," she answered.

"At least I know you're getting better," he sighed. "Take care of yourself," he ordered before striding out.

"How long has he been engaged?" Diamond asked.

Pearl shrugged. "A while. I told him to, Mother, before you start pulling a lecture together."

"But you care about him," she objected.

"Then I should want him to be happy," she answered. "He wouldn't be happy with me."

"You can't know that, darling," Diamond argued.

Pearl sighed heavily. "Rescue me, would you Father?"

"Sorry luv, you're on your own. I learned the folly of arguing with Miss Diamond ages ago," Jack returned from his spot in a nearby chair with his hat pulled low over his eyes, one jeweled hand waving lazily toward them.

"Will is out finishing some things up," Elizabeth spoke up.

"How is the packing going?" Pearl asked.

"Well," Elizabeth answered.

"Your father didn't object too strenuously to your going?" she asked.

Elizabeth laughed. "Pearl, I have been the apple of my father's eye as long as I can remember. He can deny me nothing. Besides, visiting a country home is considerably safer than sailing off on a pirate's ship. And he does still believe you're Bethany Maltrey. How could I not go with my cousin?"

"Of course," she said. "How silly of me."

"I'm going to go see to some things. Diamond, if she starts nodding off just slip out. She must be exhasted, although she'll die before she admits it."

Pearl stuck her tongue out at Elizabeth as she left the two to catch up.

Author's note: So there you go. Next comes the journey. It'll be a fine ride, I promise. In the mean time, finals approach and my notes beckon. (Melodramatic? What do you mean I'm being melodramatic?) In the mean time, make my week and review for me. It'll be a spot of light in an otherwise bleak world. Oops, melodrama again. I had better go before I say something unforgivably sad.


	7. Travels

Braving the Flame 

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not mine. I don't even know who I would have to claim to be if they were mine.

Author's Note: Finals are over! Yeah! Happy dance

Norrington's horse shifted beneath him, chewing at the bit and stomping impatiently. He reached down to pat the animal's flank, feeling impatience sneaking up on him as well. He had forgotten how good it felt to be on horseback in his years on the sea. He had taken lessons as a boy, as all proper English boys of rank would, and had throughly enjoyed the lessons despite having to give them up as other engagements began to weigh on him. Remembering that his mother's country house contained a stable he began silently plotting to begin taking afternoon rides every opportunity the weather provided. Perhaps, he mused, he should invite Jack and Will along, and Elizabeth if she wished to come. He would wager Elizabeth and Will would pick it up quickly enough but Jack would most likely be something worth seeing. Somehow he got the feeling the old sea dog of a pirate captain wouldn't have much talent with horses.

As if his thoughts had summoned them the rest of the party appeared. Will and Elizabeth came out first, Elizabeth gesturing wildly as she argued with her husband. Norrington once again thanked whatever saints might be watching over him that he hadn't married Elizabeth.

Everyone had expected willful, argumentative Elizabeth Swann to bowl her quiet husband over when she married William Turner. Instead he had found a way to be so patient and kind to her, stubbornly refusing to loose his temper, that she often became too frustrated to continue the argument. He watched Will claim victory yet again as he pulled his wife close to whisper something into her ear and kiss her forehead. With a sigh she threw her arms into the air in defeat. Norrington caught Will's eye in that moment, and they shared a smile.

Jack and Diamond appeared behind them, a securely wrapped Pearl held firm in Jack's arms, the three of them making nearly as much fuss as Elizabeth just had. He urged his horse toward them, chuckling as he watched Pearl free her arm to try to shoo her hovering mother away only to have her return the offending arm to its prior place and secure the blankets around her more firmly.

Jack turned to Will and Elizabeth, sheltering his daughter for a moment, to order, "You two in first, turtle doves. I'll hand Pearl up to you."

"You know, I think I could handle the one step up into the carriage," Pearl remarked with a snort as Will moved to help Elizabeth into the carriage. She settled into the bench on one wall as Will climbed in.

"We've had this discussion already," Jack told her. "And it's pointless now anyway," he added as Will turned to accept Pearl as easily as if she weighed no more than the blankets she was wrapped in. She probably didn't, Norrington mused. She had only just begun eating solid food again, a process that had to be handled slowly. She still had an emaciated look to her that, despite what the rest might tell her, he doubted she would ever entirely loose.

Will withdrew into the carriage to make room for the two remaining passengers. Jack gave Diamond a hand up into the carriage, waiting for her to settle onto the bench across from Elizabeth's before climbing in himself and settling next to her as close to the wall as possible.

Will placed Pearl between them before sitting next to his wife. Pearl leaned toward her father, resting her head on his shoulder. He put an arm around her to hold her secure and placed a kiss on her forehead. Jack's eyes met Diamond's and he thought he saw something pass between them before Jack's eyes shifted. Looking up at Norrington, who was looking in to make sure everyone was settled, he gave him a thumbs up. Norrington nodded in response, turning the horse as the footman swung the door into place. "Let's go!" he called to the lead of the party.

Pearl slept through the entire first half of the trip, only waking when Norrington called a halt next to a beautiful field teeming with flowers and containing a large tree that would be an ideal source of shade for a quick lunch.

Elizabeth tried to persuade Pearl to stay in the carriage, but finally gave up when she threatened to steal someone's sword and stab herself through the heart if they didn't let her out of the "oppressively hot box of death."

Edward dismounted and went to the carriage door as the footman opened it. Jack moved to pick up his daughter but with a sudden bust of speed she bolted past him to make a break for the carriage door herself. While she did manage to get herself to the door her legs failed her on the steps to give out beneath her. Using reflexes more accustomed to catching sword strikes aimed for him Norrington managed to catch the girl before she hit the ground.

"Pearl!" four voices called above, half sounding terrified, the other half scolding.

"Sorry," she said, addressing the voices in the carriage although her eyes were on the man cradling her in his arms. She raised a hand her forehead as she blushed crimson. She hated showing weakness, and she'd managed to deal her pride a major blow with that move. "Thank you, Edward. If you would just put me down-"

"I don't think so," he cut her off, tossing her a bit so that he could shift his hold to get a firmer grip on the woman. "Elizabeth, would you grab a blanket?" he asked as he turned to lead the group toward the tree.

"What were you thinking?" Diamond demanded as she caught up with her daughter.

"Obviously that I could get out of the carriage on my own. Apparently I miscalculated a bit. Although I must say, the results have been excellent," she added, snuggling closer to the Commodore's chest as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't think you're going to flirt your way out of this one, missy," Diamond ordered. "You must be more careful. You did die, after all."

"I what?" Pearl asked.

Behind them Jack groaned, "Here we go again."

"I what?!" Pearl cried.

"I thought you didn't want her to know," Elizabeth said.

"I didn't!" Jack cried. "Either of them! If your bloody friend hadn't opened his big mouth-"

"Wait, I was dead?!" Pearl cried. "For how long?"

"Just a minute," Norrington told her as her mother spread a blanket beneath the tree. "Your father got you back."

"Yes, so you should be thanking me," Jack informed her.

"I should be slapping you for not telling me," she returned.

"Your mother did that already, thank you very much. Do you see the thanks I get from these women?"

"Thank you mother," Pearl called.

"Don't mention it," she said, sitting down next to her daughter and helping the servants lay out the meal that had been packed for them.

With a growl of frustration Jack settled onto the blanket next to Diamond. Norrington, who had been moving to help the servants spread out the food, found Pearl griping his jacket. With a resigned shrug for Jack and a sniff at Diamond's smirk he sat next to the girl. Will and Elizabeth brought another blanket, settling next to one another. "Newlyweds," Pearl remarked with a snort.

"Now Pearl-" Elizabeth began.

"I know," she cut her off. "Soft foods and don't eat too much. Anything that tastes good is definitely off limits."

"Keep an eye on your plate, Edward. She'll try to steal from you," Elizabeth warned.

"Lizzie, I taught this girl all she knows of stealing and I can tell you he can sit on his plate if he wants, if she wants something from it she'll have it," Jack told her.

"I find it just a bit disconcerting that you use you're daughter's ability to steal as a point of pride," Elizabeth remarked.

"Why shouldn't I? She's talented."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "You really are despicable."

"And you're incorrigible," he shot back.

"And I'm insatiable," Diamond put in with a flutter of her eyelids.

"And Will's indomitable," Pearl added. "I should know. I tried."

"And Pearl's intolerable," Will shot back.

They all turned to look at Edward, who shrugged. "I'm unconquerable."

"That's not been my experience," Pearl informed him with a grin.

"If I'm not unconquerable what am I?" he asked.

"A bloody English git," she answered with a laugh.

"A Navy prig," Jack put in.

Those gathered oohed.

"Pirate," Norrington shot back at Jack with a laugh.

"Prostitute," Pearl said, elbowing her mother.

"Blacksmith!" Diamond accused, pointing at Will.

"Commodore!" Will cried, pointing at Norrington.

"Gentry!" he called to Elizabeth.

"Sparrow!" she put in with a wave toward Pearl.

This set them all laughing so hard it was several minutes before they were all sitting upright, able to go back to eating. "I don't believe I've had this much fun in ages," Diamond remarked.

"I knew you missed me, Di," Jack said, an arm snaking around her waist to pull her close so that he could kiss her cheek.

"I missed my daughter," she corrected, pushing him away with a laugh.

"I've been told she's much like me," he told her.

"More than I'd like, for certain," Diamond informed him.

"Oh, luv, you've cut me to the quick," Jack said, flamboyantly pressing one hand to his heart, the other to his forehead and lay back on the grass.

"Uh-oh. You killed Jack," Will remarked, poking him with the toe of his boot.

"Well, his smelly carcass isn't riding in the carriage with us," Pearl said. "You'll have to carry him on your horse, Edward."

Norrington snorted. "If I tie a rope about him and drag him behind my horse he'll be lucky," he informed them.

Elizabeth laughed as she leaned over to poke at him. "You'll excuse me, Diamond, if I have trouble believing that a few unkind words from you could accomplish what undead pirates could not."

"Finally, someone speaking sense," Jack remarked as he sat back up.

Pearl snorted. "You wouldn't know sense if it bit you," she put in.

"And you would?" Norrington asked.

"I would know sense when I heard it," Jack put in. "I can always recognize it by the way it makes no sense to me."

Elizabeth laughed. "You recognize sense because it doesn't make sense?"

"Exactly luv," he said confidently.

After a few moments of relative peace (relative because of the scolding it entailed from Elizabeth when Pearl made a vain attempt to steal some roast beef) Pearl suddenly asked, "Will, your mother's dead, right?"

He looked over at her curiously. "Yes."

"What did she look like?"

"Why?" Will asked.

"I don't know. Could be nothing. I don't remember your father ever saying any more than 'she was beautiful.'"

"But why-"

"If it applies, I'll tell you," she promised. Elizabeth gave him a quizzical look. Pearl's voice was unusually steady. "Please, just answer the question."

He shrugged. "All right. I don't remember a lot. I was fairly young when she died. She was mostly English but there was a little Irish in there somewhere. She had pale skin and freckles. Dark hair, though. Brown, although it looked black sometimes. She was, I don't know, medium height I suppose. She always wore blue because-"

"It matched her eyes," Pearl put in. "They were dark blue, like the open ocean."

"Yes. She said that's what my father always said. But I thought you said-"

She shook her head. "I didn't think anything of it at the time. Just a fever dream. But if I was actually dead..." She looked down, picking at the blanket. "It's fractured, what I remembered. Just light, and the pain and the heat sort of faded away. And I was, well, scared, really. I didn't know what was going on, and it seemed like I hadn't for a long time. I guess this just felt different, which I suppose it would. Anyway, I remember being afraid, and this woman came up to me. And you just described her perfectly, Will. She even had this gorgeous sky blue dress on. She hugged me and told me not to be scared. She said this wasn't my place, that it wasn't my time. I asked who she was and she just said after all I had done for her son she had to come for me. That her husband would never forgive her if she didn't. I don't know what all I've done for you, Will, but it seemed to be enough for her. Odd that I didn't see Bootstrap. But it could have just been a dream. I mean, her appearance could be a coincidence."

Silence reigned in the group, only the sound of chewing to be heard. "Okay, this is too serious a discussion," Jack finally announced. "Time to change the subject."

A stiff, cooling breeze kicked up suddenly, throwing hair into Pearl's face. She growled as she shoved it back. "I need to cut this," she announced. "It's becoming totally unmanageable."

"No you don't," Diamond said. "You haven't had it long since you were a girl."

"There's a reason for that," she answered.

"Well, there's nothing you're going to be doing any time soon that involves it getting in your way. It's about time you cleaned up and started acting like the Lady I know is in there somewhere." Jack and Pearl snorted in unison. Diamond elbowed Jack. "I don't want to hear a word from you. It's all your fault she's lowered herself to this level."

"In my own defense I don't think it's entirely my fault. She herself may have had something to do with it," Jack pointed out.

"You may as well just go back to sleep, Mother," Pearl said before she could retort, "because it's never going to happen here in the waking world."

"Never say never," Norrington told her.

"Don't YOU start," she ordered.

Will sighed as he pushed back the remains of his plate. "I'm stuffed." Poking at his wife's shoulder he asked, "Want to go for a quick walk before we tuck ourselves back into that box?"

"No Pearl!" four voices yelled as she opened her mouth.

"You're all mean," Pearl said with a pout as she lay back on the blanket. "It will have to be a short walk," she added with a glance toward the northern horizon. "There's rain coming up before nightfall."

"Are we going to get wet?" Norrington asked.

Pearl shrugged. "I don't know."

"You can predict a storm while we race with the winds on sea but going by carriage over solid ground you can't tell?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know how fast we're moving exactly, or where precisely we're going," Pearl explained. "Besides, I have more experience on the sea."

"Well, I think a walk sounds like an excellent idea. Doesn't it Jack?" Diamond put in.

Jack shrugged, laying back on the blanket as well. "I think I'd rather nap."

"You can nap in the carriage," Diamond said, poking him in the side as Will and Elizabeth stood.

"Or I could sleep now," he answered.

Pearl chuckled as her mother stood to take his hand and tug at it. "Or you can NAP in the CARRIAGE!" she said through clenched teeth nodding toward Norrington and Pearl.

Jack shook his head up at her. "You're mad, woman."

"You would know. Come on."

Grudgingly Jack stood to follow the woman, who smacked his arm in reproach. He countered by drawing close, wrapping an arm around her waist and leaning into the prostitute to whisper into her ear. Diamond's laughter faded as they moved off.

Deciding he didn't want to think about what those two were up to he returned his attention to Pearl. "You mother is clever and all, Pearl, but she isn't very sneaky."

"She doesn't feel the need to be," Pearl answered, rolling over to spread out on the blanket and close her eyes with a satisfied sigh. This placed her head right next to his legs. He shifted so he could lay down as well, propping his head up on an elbow by her bust, letting his legs sprawl out past her head. While the position was hardly appropriate, there was nothing inherently inappropriate about it either. He couldn't resist reaching out to run his fingers through her red mane. She purred deep in her throat at the motion, turning it into a sigh.

"Tired?" he asked of her closed eyes.

"Eh," Pearl answered indifferently. "Just pleasantly drowsy. It seems to happen after I eat. Or move."

"Or fall out of carriages," Norrington added. "You have to be more careful."

She raised a hand to flick her wrist once at him, a very Jack-like motion that made light bounce off of the black pearl rings she still wore despite Elizabeth's objections. "I'm a pirate. It's my paragative to ignore caution."

She sighed as she shifted again. The dappled sunlight fell on the silver necklace around her neck, making the ruby eye of the Phoenix glow. "I'm glad you still wear it," he remarked.

She didn't open her eyes, a smile creeping over her face. "I haven't taken it off," she admitted. "It seemed foolish, leaving a gift this valuable lying around a pirate ship."

Norrington sighed. Valuable, as in expensive. She could easily deny any emotional attachment. Just as she was wearing it only to keep it safe on a ship full of pirates. "You're impossible," he informed her.

One eye cracked to look up at him. "No, I'm intolerable," she corrected.

"That's not been my experience," he told her mockingly.

She rolled onto her side, propping her head up on an elbow, sharp eyes studying him. After several minutes of staring at him silently she inched forward slowly, smoothly, as if he were a wild deer about to bolt. Instead he held his ground, regarding her carefully as she approached.

Her lips brushed his, gently at first, a fleeting touch. When he didn't retreat she came back, kissing him more firmly, her hand finding his cheek, thumb caressing the skin.

He backed off when he felt her tongue tentatively explore his lips. "No, Pearl," he ordered, sitting up.

He had expected her to sit up as well but instead she flopped back onto the blanket, exhaustion flashing through her eyes. He worried for a moment--the trip had to be exhausting, as was moving at all for her. But she didn't close her eyes. Instead she stared up at him, eyes questioning. "I'm sorry, Pearl, but I can't. I'm engaged. I promised Maggie--"

"Maggie. So that's her name," Pearl murmured. "All right, Edward. That's lovely and all. But you're going to marry her. Take an oath. You will belong to her forever." She inched forward, the effort so obvious Norrington reached out to help her without thinking or even knowing how.

She drew closer, pulling herself up so she was eye-to-eye with him. "Till death do you part. You'll be lost to me forever then, Edward, so what's wrong with taking what I can now? When you aren't sealed to her by heaven and state?"

"Pearl, I don't..." he began without knowing how to finish. "I can't."

"Perhaps I should prove to you that you can," she whispered, leaning closer.

"Ready to go?" a voice suddenly asked behind them. While Pearl didn't move Norrington pulled back as if his nanny had just caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. Behind him Will and Elizabeth stood with Diamond and Jack. Will looked distinctly embarrassed as his eyes looked anywhere but at the couple on the blanket. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was glaring at them. At Edward, really. Diamond was grinning like a Cheshire cat and Jack had that insufferable smirk on his face again.

Jack, who had obviously been the one to speak, came forward to gather his daughter in his arms. "I had better grab you before you try to run off again," he told her.

"No worries," she answered around a yawn. "I'm too tired." She looped her arm around his neck, leaning up to kiss his cheek before cuddling closer to his chest and closing her eyes. "Love you, papa," she murmured.

"Love you too, Fledgling," he told her with a kiss on the forehead.

She was sound asleep by the time they reached the carriage. She didn't even stir when Jack handed her to Norrington, along with a knowing smile, so that he could hand her up into her father's arms once he was in the carriage.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it. This was a fun one to write. I'm going to be working a lot up until Christmas–retail, you know– so I don't know when you'll see another chapter. Patients is always appreciated, as are reviews.

One note on that. This chapter is dedicated entirely to Mac, who made my day in a way they can probably never imagine. I got your review after what was probably one of the top ten worst days of my life. I was just about ready to break down and cry (and I HATE crying) and then I went to my e-mail and got your review. It's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me (or written to me). I printed it off in a huge font size and tacked it on my wall just to cheer myself up (right next to the Orlando Bloom picture I ripped out of a magazine-yummy!). Anyone you want to barrow, you just let me know. I'll grab Norrington if you really want him. Hell, you can have all three of them if you want. I just wanted to say thank you.


	8. Diner Conversation

Braving the Flames 

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Note: Love to all and Merry Christmas! Oh, fair warning, this chapter is a little racy. I had some champagne when I wrote this, and I think it shows. Yes, I am 21. 22, in fact. But good writing comes from experience. Besides, we are talking about a pirate, a Tortuga whore, and their daughter all sitting in a room together. It was only a matter of time before it happened. My thought is, if you're too young, naive, inexperienced, or any combination of the three you won't really understand what they're saying. No harm, no foul, right?

She slept the rest of the way to the country home as clouds moved in from the north. The first drops began to fall as they entered the gate of the sprawling country mansion. The servants began racing around as soon as they stopped before the heavy wooden front door, attempting to get everything inside before it began raining in earnest. A boy came, taking Norrington's horse, and he moved to help the Turners out of the carriage. He was just reaching for Pearl when a man in suit coat walked up to Will and asked, "Commodore?"

"That would be me," Norrington called over his shoulder, turning toward the man with the still slumbering Pearl in his arms as Elizabeth giggled.

"Apologies, Sir," the man answered, hurrying over to him with a bow. Norrington bowed back as well as he could with Pearl still in his arms. "I am Master Nethers."

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you at last," Norrington said, remembering the name from the papers he'd received.

"And you, Sir. Um, is the young Miss quite all right?"

"What? Oh, Pearl, yes. She's fine. Just exhausted from the journey." Jack took her from his arms. "That is the young lady we're rehabilitating."

"Of course," the man answered, sounding anything but certain. "My wife, Merideth, will show her to her room," he added, mostioning a portly woman who had been eagerly greeting Midge under the cover of the porch.

"Hell's bells, if he ain't the very picture of hims mother," the woman remarked, studying him.

"The girl?" Nethers reminded her.

"'Course. This way," she said, eyes remaining on Norrington as long as they could as she led Jack and Diamond into the house.

"Would you like to come inside, Sir?" Nethers asked as the rain began to firm.

"Of course," Norrington agreed, following the man up the steps and into the white marble foyer, Elizabeth and Will in tow.

"If I may ask, Sir, how long do you plan to stay?"

Norrington shrugged, eyes on the room around him. "Long as it takes for Pearl to get well."

"Very good. And our guests will include?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Um, Pearl of course, but she won't be too much trouble. She can barely move now. Jack is her father. He was the one that took her upstairs. The women is Dia--er--Di," he corrected quickly. Pearl might pass for a noble woman's name, but Diamond would never do. He wasn't sure how closely they were going to hold their guests' true identity secret, but it wouldn't do to advertise. "She's the girl's mother. And these are the Turners. Will and his wife, Elizabeth."

"Pleasure," the man told them. "So four rooms?"

Norrington began to nod, thinking how beautiful the house really was and wondering why he hadn't visited before, then stopped. "Um, no. Five rooms. Jack and Di are not, um, together you could say."

The man looked a bit confused, but nodded as Jack reappeared from upstairs with Diamond behind him. "Pearl's settled," he announced. "Still sound asleep. Will be until noon tomorrow, I should think."

"We should enjoy the relative peace until then," Elizabeth remarked.

Will snorted. "I shouldn't think Jack will allow that."

This earned a grin from Jack. "Actually, I'm so tired I might well just eat and get some rest. I never realized how exhausting this traveling over land really was. I mean, I could get five times as far on the Black Pearl and not break a sweat."

"Well, it appears you're in the right profession. What do you say, Master Nethers? Might we find a good meal and soft bed?"

"Indeed, my Lord," he answered.

They all slept exceedingly well that night. The next day started off peacefully enough until Pearl awoke. Elizabeth wanted her to stay in bed to recover from the trip, and Pearl wanted to explore the house, or at least go down to the library. Elizabeth refused. Jack pleaded her case, Diamond cut him off, and Will opted to stay well out of it.

Tiring of the yelling quickly Norrington explored the house, the continuing rain keeping him inside. The small mansion was sprawling and comfortable, and Norrington found himself planning to visit it far more often. He even considered bringing Maggie for their honeymoon, although he decided against making any final decisions in fear of Pearl's ghost finding a permanent home in the halls.

He found Will in an open foyer, practicing with a sword. He considered joining him, but decided he didn't feel like being beaten senseless by Will Turner.

He returned to the library to find Jack spread out on the couch with a book in hand. Even dressed in simple cloths lounging barefoot he looked halfway decent, almost as if he were a proper Lord. Norrington shuttered at the thought.

Diamond sat below him, attempting to catch some of the light cast by the candelabra since the murky light coming in the window was sadly useless. There was something about the situation that caught his eye. Jack was uncharacteristically mellow, and there was a mussed look to Diamond's hair and dress. Deciding that he didn't want to think about that sort of thing and the presence of Elizabeth in the corner, studying the titles, made the scene innocent enough.

"Is the war over?" he asked Jack, leaning in to read over his shoulder.

"Temporary truce," Jack answered, turning a page. "Pearl sent Elizabeth after a book."

"Maybe I'll stop in before the screaming starts," he remarked, rubbing his eyes. Reading over Jack's shoulder in meager light certainly did nothing for him.

He was just entering the foyer when a loud racket on the stairs brought him, along with two or three servants, into the room at a run. He found Pearl pooled on the first landing, sitting up gingerly and rubbing at the back of her head. Norrington sprang up the stairs three at a time until he was crouching beside her. She had a nasty bump on her head, judging from the wincing way she moved her left arm there was probably another on her elbow, and her right ankle had an odd turn to it. "Pearl, tell me you didn't try to get down the stairs alone," Norrington ordered.

"All right. I didn't try to get down the stairs alone."

"Good. Who helped you?"

She shrugged. "Me, myself, and I."

"Pearl! You lied to me!"

"You told me to!" she answered. Suddenly her eyes focused behind him and she softly said, "Uh-oh."

"Pearl Sparrow!"

"Hiya Lizzie. Fancy meeting you here," Pearl greeted with a grin.

"Don't Lizzie me! You promised to stay put!" Elizabeth lectured.

Pearl shrugged. "I lied. I'm a pirate."

"Pearl!" Diamond cried. "That is no excuse. You have got to learn to take things slowly."

Jack pushed past the girls to kneel on Pearl's other side. "Never this one," he remarked with a mocking grin. "It's not in her nature."

"Perhaps she should learn," Diamond suggested.

"Well, this will be a lesson," Jack remarked. "Let me see," he ordered, bending her head forward so he could examine the growing bump with gentle fingers. "I think you'll survive. What else have you wounded yourself?"

She sighed as she shifted. "I think I bruised my elbow and there's something wrong with my leg."

He shook his head as he moved to examine her ankle. Blushing lightly Norrington looked away. "Edward?" He turned to find Pearl grinning at him, obviously fighting laughter. "You've seen a good deal more than my ankle before this."

"That does not make it appropriate now," he replied.

"Isn't he just too sweet?" she asked her father.

"Oh, aye. You'd best be careful or I'll steal him away," Jack answered.

"You'll excuse me if I'm not overly concern-ow! Careful!" she cried suddenly.

"Luv, I wasn't anywhere near your ankle," he answered. Carefully he pushed the skirt further up, and groaned. Just below her knee her leg most have come in contact with the stairs. A bright red patch stood out on her leg, already earning a greenish hue. "That's going to hurt," he remarked. "Might slow up your getting back up on your feet."

"Ah, but you forget one thing, luv," Pearl announced, throwing her arms wide. "I'm Pearl Sparrow, savvy?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "It doesn't sound that sad when I do it."

"Yes it does!" Pearl, Norrington, Will, and Elizabeth all answered at once.

"Now that hurts. It really does," Jack informed them, pressing a hand to his chest. "Well, luv, I dare say you're going to live. Might hurt a bit, but that's nothing you've ever feared before so I'm hardly concerned for you now." He lifted her carefully into his arms. "Might as well go down now, I suppose, since you're half there now."

"No, Jack!" Elizabeth cried. "If you give into her she'll do that same thing again just to get her own way."

"Lizzie, I'm not a puppy, and I'm not a petulant five-year-old," Pearl told her. "And if I did end up back upstairs I would do the same thing regardless."

"No, darling," Diamond broke in. "You mustn't, dear. Please, no more tumbles down stairs. You might have broken your neck."

Pearl chuckled up at her mother. "The good Lord above, or whoever it is that's in charge of this sort of thing, has decided he doesn't want me once. It doesn't seem he, she, or it would be changing its mind this quickly."

"You shouldn't tempt fate," Norrington remarked.

Pearl laughed at that. "I'm a pirate. I make a living tempting fate. At least when I'm not too busy tempting handsome Commodores."

"Where do you find handsome ones?" Jack asked as he carried her into the library and settled her onto the couch.

Everyone else settled around the room to return to their books as she fell asleep nearly immediately. Jack just shrugged when Elizabeth began to complain about the irony of her being so anxious to get downstairs only to fall asleep. "Falling down stairs must be tiring work," he remarked.

She woke in time for dinner, which the servants brought in for them. They ate, scattered around the room. "What does a man have to do to get some rum around here?" Jack asked as he eyed with wine with distaste. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had any rum?"

"Too long," Pearl answered as she stared longingly over her pile of carefully mashed potatoes at the greasy pieces of chicken the rest had.

"Too long!" Jack cried.

"I don't keep rum on hand," Norrington put in.

"Why not?" Jack asked.

"Because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels," Elizabeth said.

"Really?" Pearl asked. "How much do you suppose I would have to bribe the kitchen servants with to get them to slip some into Edward's wine?"

"I can hear you!" Norrington informed her.

She shrugged. "How much would I have to pay you to sip at it?"

"You grew up in Tortuga, darling. I shouldn't have to tell you that the women never pay the men," Diamond remarked.

Pearl shrugged. "They do if they see something they really want. Besides, we aren't in Tortuga."

"Why is it that you're sitting in a beautiful, elegant country mansion and all you people can think about is Tortuga?" Will asked.

"Hey, I didn't say anything about Tortuga. I just want rum," Jack defended himself. "Although I am feeling just a mite lonely." His eyes strayed toward Diamond.

"I can feel you looking at me," Diamond told him without looking up. "And the answer is no."

"Why not?" Jack asked, inching closer. "I promise you'd have a good time."

"I don't doubt that, but I'm throughly enjoying not having to work right now and I'd like to keep it that way."

"It's a sad state of affairs when you think o' that as work, Luv," Jack remarked. "Mayhaps you should let me try to change that." Jack leaned forward to kiss at her shoulder.

Pearl groaned as Norrington, Will, and Elizabeth all turned varying shades of red. "Leave off," Pearl ordered. "I'd like to keep what little, tasteless food I ate down."

"Sad or not it's the way it is," Diamond informed Jack, pushing him away.

Jack sat back and folded his arms, a pout settling over his face. "Trapped away from my own ship, away from the sea, no rum, no company. This is a bloody nightmare."

"But you do have your lovely daughter," Pearl pointed out, sounding mildly insulted.

"Aye luv, I do have that," he agreed readily. "And it's worth it, to be sure. Just lamenting the fact that I'm out of my element." His eyes wandered over to Elizabeth. "Unless--"

"Jack, you are a scoundrel," she announced as Will bristled.

"Just sayin', is all. I'd hate to think o' you in agony over...missed opportunities."

"Believe me, agony is the last word I would used to describe what I feel over not sleeping with you," Elizabeth informed him.

"Wait, what happened?" Diamond asked, chuckling under her breath. "This is a story I've not heard."

"Well, I don't know what you expected," Pearl put in. "You're abandoned on an island all by your lonesome and you cuddle up to a man you KNOW is a pirate, and a scoundrel, and start sighing. 'Oh, Jack, it must be TERRIBLE for you to trapped on this island.' Tell me you weren't asking for it."

"My point exactly," Jack proclaimed.

"Wait. I thought he was chasing you around," Will put in.

Jack, Diamond, and Pearl all met eyes and burst out laughing. "I'm sure he was," Diamond put in. "Elizabeth simply wasn't helping matters any. At any rate, I'm sure she didn't know what she was doing. Sweet innocent girl like that."

"Personally, I don't know why you didn't go for it," Pearl put in. "I mean, you're on this bloody island, you're probably going to die, Will would probably be dead if you did get away. Why not have fun while you can?"

"Well, knowing the way things turned out it's a good thing I didn't," she shot back.

Pearl and Diamond shrugged and said, "Depends," in unison.

"How would that have been a good thing?" Will demanded.

Pearl and Diamond met eyes, both obviously debating on what to say. In the end Pearl shrugged and Diamond nodded. "Well, in Elizabeth's case, I'll tell you, Jack's very good. Would have been a very nice time. Stopping smirking, you bloody pirate," Diamond added to Jack, who was indeed smirking as he studied his nails.

"In Will's case," Pearl went on as her mother reached over to smack her father over the head, "Jack might have taught Elizabeth a trick or two that would thrill you to no end."

"Although if Will's anything like his father he knows a few tricks of his own," Diamond added with a chuckle.

"Wait. You...and my father?" Will asked, nose wrinkling.

"Before he met your mother, laddie," Diamond put in. "But aye."

"Okay, I must put a stop to this," Norrington finally said. "This has gone far beyond inappropriate."

"Edward, you're sitting here with a Tortuga whore, a pirate, and their daughter. This is dinnertime conversation for us," Pearl informed him. "Or is this a desperate attempt to keep me from bringing up what a lucky woman Maggie's going to be?"

"Oh, I haven't heard this story either. Do share, darling," Diamond put in. "I must admit my imagination has been running rather wild."

Norrington, now bright scarlet, made an outraged noise. "Mayhaps we should have Elizabeth leave. It might break her heart to hear what she's given up in a husband," Pearl suggested.

"Oh, after a setup like that I don't think I can wait long enough for her to leave," Diamond said eagerly.

"Let's just say if bigger is better, Edward's got no worries about being low man on the totem pole, so to speak. And a mighty well shaped totem pole it is."

"It ain't the size of the ship love, it's how well you sail it," Jack said quickly.

"Spoken like a true man," Diamond muttered. "No reason to get defensive, Darling. You may not be the crown jewel of the king's navy, but that ain't exactly a rowboat you're toting around."

Elizabeth cried out, clapping her hands over her ears. Pearl, Diamond, and Jack laughed. "Think we're upsetting the gentry," Diamond remarked.

"Isn't that the point?" Pearl asked. "So anyway, I was going to say that Edward's rather experienced with his rigging, shall we say. You wouldn't believe the ports that man can hit."

"I'm not hearing this," Norrington muttered. "I'm just not. This is a nightmare. It has to be."

"You should be complimented, lad," Diamond put in, eying him thoughtfully. "Pearl isn't free with praise, and she's been around the oceans a time or two."

"Besides, I believe in using my gifts," Pearl put in. "After growing up in Tortuga I have quite the gift for making anything dirty. I have a very talented tongue, so to speak."

"I'm going to go help the servants clean up," Norrington said quickly, fleeing from the room.

"Me too," Will called, right behind.

"What? You can't leave me here alone. Will!" Elizabeth cried, chasing after him.

The three remaining members laughed. "That was fun," Pearl remarked.

"Is that true, though, or are you just trying to drive the Commodore up a wall?" Diamond asked.

"Oh, it's true. Every word."

Author's Note: There you are. I had fun writing this chapter too. At least, the last part. I hope you all have a merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate. Consider this your present, from you to me. Just out of curiosity, for fun, if you want to, I'd like to hear what your favorite line has been in the course of my stories. Some of you have reminded me as you go along, which is always nice. So, until we meet again, happy holidays!


	9. Pushing the Limits

Braving the Flames 

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I'm getting used to it.

The next week was less eventful. Cold and rainy outside, everyone contented themselves by pouring over what reading the library offered. Elizabeth allowed Pearl to be carried down the stairs when she threatened to attempt them on her own again if she didn't. While she still spent the majority of the time sleeping she was obviously growing stronger. The men would take turns holding her arms as she tottled around the library. It was nearly painful for them all watching her shuffle around like a child, but her stubborn refusal to quit and anger any time anyone offered her any sympathy kept their spirits up. By the end of the week she could make it from the foyer to the library and back three or four times per day if she let herself rest between.

As the week wore on boredom goaded Norrington and Jack into practicing the sword with Will. Chairs were brought into the gigantic marble hall so that the girls could sit and sew or read as they watched the men practice. It became abundantly clear that Will was the better swordsman, and Jack's stumbling attempts were woefully lacking unless he managed to cheat his way into an advantage while Norrington lay somewhere in the middle.

"Your form is too perfect," Pearl informed Norrington one day as he collapsed at the girls' feet to watch Jack take his place against Will.

"And there's something wrong with that?" he asked.

"Two somethings, actually," she informed him. "In the first place you pause when you switch methods in order to find the proper stance. Every time your opponent forces you to shift form you leave yourself open. If you would just be satisfied by being a little less than perfect you would be much faster."

"And the second problem?" he asked.

"It makes you predictable. When Will forms a move he knows exactly what your response is going to be. It gives him time to formulate his next move without giving you the same luxury. See, Jack is the exact opposite. Completely unpredictable."

"Not much in the way of form," Norrington pointed out.

"Aye, but he's lightning fast. That makes up for it."

Norrington nodded. "That's how you fight, isn't it?"

A smile flirted across her face. "Mostly, although that year I spent in Paris taught me some form. I usually sort of hide it. Pirates tend to get snooty if they think you have more skills than you should."

"What did you do in Paris? Besides study?"

She shrugged. "Spent Jack's treasure. Well, I helped earn it, so it was more fair than that, but you get the idea. Actually I spent most of the time with my bust bound and hair cut off short tarrying around the University."

"You're educated?" Norrington asked.

"A little. Something else I hide most of the time. Literature, mostly. Tickled my fancy. You don't have to sound so surprised."

"I'm sorry. I just..." He shrugged helplessly. "You never fail to surprise me. How many languages do you speak?"

She shrugged. "English, obviously, and French. Monique, my friend in Tortuga, taught me that afore I got to Paris. Spanish, since we are in the Spanish Main. Latin, obviously, since I studied in University. I can bumble my way through a little Aztec tribal language if I need to. My gypsy friend's taught me some."

"More than me," he noted.

"More than most anyone," Diamond put in with a proud smile.

The next week the storms cleared out, the sun re-emerged, the ground warmed, and the group moved into the back gardens which were full to bursting with fine English roses. Pearl developed a habit of pilfering them to braid into her hair that left the gardener incredibly upset.

The servants carried out couches and chairs and everyone marveled over how nice it was to have real light again. The men had plenty of open places to practice the sword without servants having fits over the damage to draperies and marble.

At first Pearl spent the majority of her waking time sewing, reading, or playing her fiddle for Jack and Diamond, who spun gittily around the gardens, as well as Will and Elizabeth, who found themselves the less than willing focus of tutorage by the pirate and prostitute on the finer points of improper dance.

Norrington was content to watch, once he got over his embarrassment at the provocative nature of the dancing going on before him, laughing and joking with Pearl, although Elizabeth did occasionally pull him into the grassy circle to dance a more tame step. Will didn't seem to mind and even Norrington admitted the experience was not entirely painful.

As she grew stronger Pearl took to meandering around the mazes the paths of the gardens, her steps finally firming. She seldom collapsed in an exhausted heap any more, and slept only through the night and for a few hours in the afternoon.

The most startling change, however, was in her appearance. It was as if being in the sun and fresh air breathed new life into her. She refused all of the hats and umbrellas Elizabeth offered her. Her skin began to loose it's pail shade, becoming darker. The breeze put color in her cheeks. She started gaining weight, losing her pinched look. While she still sat a great deal there was an animation to it, a near-constant shifting and energy that mirrored her father's, which had been absent over the past month or so.

Norrington spent many long afternoons with Master Nethers, looking over the farm. He was impressed with the man's knowledge, and how productive the farm really was. He promised to visit more often, and Master Nethers said he hoped so.

Norrington knew, however, that it was Pearl's company he would miss the most when they left. She had charmed him, as she had most of the household servants. She had an ability to talk to them without talking down to them that they hadn't expected.

Jack quickly learned that the stable hands kept rum on hand, and took to disappearing in the evening to nip at it. Norrington couldn't help feeling relieved despite himself, not only because Jack's sharp tongue was removed, but also because Pearl seemed calmer away from him. It was as if Jack was such an oppressively outrageous character his daughter had to fight to earn a piece of the spotlight.

One day they were all lazing about in the warm sunlight when Pearl suddenly sat up and announced, "I want to go for a walk."

"So go," Jack suggested lazily from the large chair he was tucked into with Diamond. Those two seemed to be constantly together now, and their open flirting left little doubt of their spending nights together as well.

"Not in the gardens," she said. "I know the gardens by heart. I want to go see the farm."

Elizabeth sighed heavily. "I don't suppose there's any harm so long as you don't outdo it. And you take someone with you. Not that it matters. If I told you no you'd probably just say you were going through the gardens and slip off first chance you got."

"Indeed I would," she agreed. "You're learning. Why don't you come show me around, Edward?"

"Oh, I suppose," he agreed, leveling himself to his feet and following the skipping girl. "Slow down. You don't want to tire yourself out right away," he added, breaking into a trot to catch up with her.

"I won't," she called amiably back to him as she twirled and spun her way down the path.

As she approached the gate she sped up. "Pearl, don't you dare--" he called just in time to watch her jump with a gleeful cry as she planted her foot on the low brick wall and pushed herself over. She landed lightly on the other side, laughing as she twirled in the sunlight, while skirts flashing as they spread around her.

Norrington shook his head and sped up a bit himself, hoping over the low wall to catch up with her. She took his hands in hers, spinning them both and laughing joyously. "Oh, heaven be praised, I'm FREE!" she cried.

He laughed, his arm fitting easily around her waist as he pulled her close. "No flittering off just yet, Miss Sparrow. You're not healed."

"Ug," she sighed out. "I'm sick of people telling me I'm not well. Shouldn't I know better than them?"

"Aye. And if you would tell the truth about it now and again we might believe you."

Pearl shrugged. "Pirate. I wouldn't want to be too honest. It might get to be a habit." Grinning she grabbed his hand and led him up the path. "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" he asked, adjusting his stride so he could walk with some dignity and still keep up with her jittering, dancing steps.

"There's a tree atop a hill up here. I've seen it from my window. It reminds me of a painting Mama had when I was a wee thing. I want to get a gander at what's on the other side."

"Fields," he told her. "That's all that's around here."

"Well, it's worth seeing," she answered.

At her quick pace they easily reached the small hill. He watched her carefully as she climbed the hill, but she showed no signs of tiring. At the top of the hill she grinned. "Oh, 'tis beautiful."

Norrington climbed up beside her, and found he had to agree. The land rolled out beneath them, a small creek winding its way through. Wild flowers swayed in the breeze. "It looks like waves," she remarked.

"Do you miss the ocean?" he asked, looking at her with concern. He found it hard to stay concerned, however, seeing her like this after her prolonged illness. Her skin was touched with the lightest shade of a tan. Her face was earning its old, rounder shape back. Even her arms were looking less skeletal. She wanted to join their sword practices, saying she needed to start building up muscle on her arms again. They had talked her out of it so far, but he knew she would be joining them soon.

The light green gown she wore that day was beautiful, mixing perfectly with her creamy petticoats. She had laughed when he had mentioned how odd it was to see her in skirts all the time and told him she liked skirts well as the next woman, she just couldn't climb rigging in them.

She turned toward him, amber eyes sparkling in the sunlight, red hair gleaming almost painfully bright. "Do I miss the sea?" she repeated. "A bit, I suppose. I haven't been gone from it so long, and don't remember most of that. I think mostly I miss being able to do for myself. I don't do well at being taken care of."

"I hadn't noticed," he remarked with a smirk.

"Think you're terribly funny, do you?" she asked as she moved into the shade offered by the tree. He followed. She sighed again as she regarded the surroundings. "Land this pretty, I wonder if I'll ever long for the waves again."

"It could have been yours," he pointed out. "Lord knows I offered often enough."

"Please don't start gnawing on that old bone," she begged.

"No worries," he told her. "I've made my bed. I'll not leave it empty and spite Maggie. She deserves better than that."

"Aye, she does," Pearl agreed. "An' I don't."

"I never said that," Norrington pointed out.

"No, you haven't. You've been very careful to avoid the issue all together when you can. Leastwise when you aren't trying to gall at me."

"I'm not trying to gall you."

"Oh, aye. 'I could have been yours.' That wasn't meant to gall?"

"Well, I, I just, you hurt me, Pearl. Am I not allowed to take my own shots at you?"

"Oh, aye. I'd suggest you do," she answered. "But don't pretend that isn't what you're doing."

"Probably doesn't bother you in the least anyway, does it?" he asked.

She looked up at him in apparent surprise. "Do you really think that?" she asked.

"Sure. I mean, you go on and on about never falling in love. You're a pirate. The last thing you would ever want would be a Commodore."

Pearl began to laugh, shaking with mirth. "Oh, Edward. The things you don't know about women could fill a library."

"So enlighten me."

"All right. I may be a pirate now but growing up on the streets o' Tortuga I thought I was going to be a prostitute. Edward, all girls dream of their white knight coming to rescue them. If a woman ever tells you she doesn't, she's lying. It's spoon-fed to us. Cinderella and all that. We just learn to put the dream away and accept reality. Anyway, my knight never rode up on a white horse in my fantasies as a girl. He sailed in on a gleaming ship. Told me I was too good for this place and these people and carried me away and married me and we had babies. A Commodore would have been an excellent find." She smiled at the shocked look on his face.

"But I'm a big girl now. I gave up those dreams a long time ago. I'm too grounded in reality to believe it could ever work. But, the truth is, some dreams die harder than others. So yes, it does gall when you remind me that I've given up all my dreams for a healthy dose of reality. So I remind myself how lucky I really am, not working the streets o' Tortuga, that I'm sailing the high seas and doing what I love and I try not to think too hard on what I might be giving up." She finished with a wave of her hand as if to dispel the last lingering remnants of her childhood hopes and dreams.

"I'm so sorry," Norrington remarked.

"I'm not," Pearl answered with a shrug. "If I weren't born in Tortuga and sailing around on my father's ship I never would have met you."

Norrington gave a dry chortle without humor. "Maybe that would have been better."

"Nay." She reached out to take his cheek in her hand and turn his head to meet her eyes. "Never say that. Not ever. We had some time together, which is a fair sight better than none. Speaking of which," she added, scooting closer. "We have some more time now. Why not make the best of it?"

"Pearl-" he began, but she silenced him with a finger on his lips.

"I am a pirate, Edward. I take what I want." With that she leaned forward to seal his lips in hers.

She followed him as he tried to draw away until he was backed against the tree, her hands snaking into his hair to keep him firmly in place. He didn't hold out long against the clever woman. He didn't have a chance, after all. She knew how to drive him crazy. His arm twinned around her waist to draw her closer to him as he moaned into her mouth.

Suddenly the sound of soft laughter intruded upon their interlude. Drawing away he opened his eyes to look around, but could find no source for the sound.

"That's just our luck," Pearl remarked, voice husky with lust. She cleared her throat to dispel it before continuing. "All of the trees on your property and we end up below the giggling tree." More giggling issued from above as she looked up. "Oh, wait, no, it's children. Ahoy up there."

"How can you see me?" a boy's voice emerged from above. "I was hid real good."

"Indeed you was," Pearl agreed. "I got good eyes. I was a hawk in a previous life, I was. Why don't you come on down, the both o' you?"

"A hawk?" Norrington asked as the children descended.

"You just be jealous 'cause you was a peacock," she answered.

He winced at the atrocious language. "You could at least speak properly."

"The kids'll feel more at ease if I don't," she answered before reaching up to take the boy's hand and help him to the ground.

He was a dirty little retch, probably five or so, wearing clothes that were patchwork at best. His hair was shorn off extremely short, falling only to his ears in choppy patches. Probably an effort to control lice, Norrington considered.

The girl Pearl lifted down beside him was little better. She was younger, although probably just barely. She wore a ragged grey dress, but was at least a little cleaner. Her dark, grimy hair was captured in two braids, red ragged yarn braided in as well. She curtsied as soon as her bare feet hit the dirt, murmuring, "Apologies, sir."

"Why were you spying on us?" Edward demanded. Pearl obviously did not approve of his interrogation as she crossed her arms and shook her head.

"We wasn't spying," the girl objected as her brother took a stance much like Pearl's, crossing his arms and regarding the Commodore with a guarded expression. "Leastwise we wasn't spyin' a'purpose. Our Ma told us to stay out o' the way o' the finery as is staying at the big house. We just didn' wan' bother you."

"Who do you belong to, luvs?" Pearl asked as she moved in front of her and kneeled down to get on her level.

"Me father be Marcus Falthers, though everyone calls him Mac. He works these here lands."

Pearl looked up at Norrington. "Know the name?"

"No. I can't be expected to know the names of all my workers."

Pearl rolled her eyes. "'Course not. They just put bread on your table and cloths on your back and keep this place running. Why should you bother with a silly thing like their names? What's your name, luvely?" she asked of the girl.

"Rose," she answered.

"Well, pleased to meet you, Rose. I'm Pearl, and this is Commodore Edward Norrington. You can just call him 'Norry.'"

"I beg your pardon?" Norrington sputtered.

"You may have my pardon," she answered. The girl giggled. "And you, boy-o. What might your name be?"

"I ain't no boy!" he objected, pulling a stick from his belt to wield it like a sword. "I's a pirate!"

"'Course you are. How silly of me not to have noticed," Pearl remarked, feigning surprise as she help up her hands in mock surrender.

"Me too!" the girl crowed. "Well, I ain't no pirate now, but some day I wanna be."

"Don't be stupid," the boy ordered. "Girls can't be pirates."

"'Course they can. Pearl Sparrow is, and she's a girl," Rose informed him. Pearl and Norrington exchanged looks.

"Yeah, but she's seven feet tall and can control the weather."

Pearl couldn't help but laugh at that. "Says who?"

"Says everyone," the boy answered.

"Do you know her?" the girl asked eagerly.

"Can't say that I've ever met her," Pearl said with a smirk. "But Edward has."

"What was she like?" Rose demanded eagerly. "How tall was she? Did she call a storm down on you?"

"She was distinct pain," he remarked. "She was about her height," he said, with a motion toward Pearl. "And I can't tell you exactly what she looked like. She wore a wig."

"I can't imagine why she would cause you any trouble," Pearl remarked sarcastically. "I mean, you were only trying to kill her father."

"He's a pirate. I'm a Commodore. It's my job to hang pirates, particularly when they kidnap young Ladies."

"Only if it bothers the young lady," Pearl told him.

Suddenly both adults became aware of the children staring at them a bit oddly. Norrington cleared his throat, shifting a bit. "Yes, well, we should be getting back, Pearl. You still are not well and it will not do to run yourself ragged."

"Well said," Pearl agreed, turning to the children. "Would you two like some tea? They'll probably have biscuits of some sort as well."

"What?" Norrington asked.

"Oh, come. They can be our entertainment for the afternoon," Pearl dismissed him as she hefted the girl into her arms. "What was your name, young pirate?" she asked of the boy as she led the trek back to the house.

"David," the boy answered.

"That isn't much of a pirate's name," Pearl remarked. "You need to be Rampantly Raucous David, or Devastating David, or Disgusting David."

"I like Disgusting," the boy commented.

"Do you have a terrifying name, Mister Norrin'on?" Rose asked.

"No," he answered quickly.

"Pirates all just call him 'the Bloody Commodore,'" Pearl informed her.

"Ew," she remarked.

"Indeed," Pearl agreed. "And then there's you. Even women need a proper pirate name. I mean, Miss Sparrow didn't have to worry over it because her father's name was enough to terrify most. And Pearl is a very nice pirate's name. Suggests she's a treasure and all. And Rose is a mighty fine name as well, but we need something to start it out proper, so people don't get the idea you're some helpless flower. How about the Restless Rose?"

"Oooh," the girl sighed. "I like it."

"Pearl, you're corrupting the children," Norrington scolded.

"Ah, but corrupting people is my favorite pass time," she told him with a grin. "You should know that."

"What's that mean?" Rose asked.

"Nothing you need worry over, luv," she said as she led the group through the gate.

"Everyone, we have guests!" she called.

The Turners appeared first, followed by Diamond and Jack with his familiar swagger.

"Who's this?" Elizabeth asked with a grin.

"This is Restless Rose," Pearl said, kissing the giggling girl on the cheek. "And DISGUSTING David," she said with a nod toward the boy.

"They sound ferocious," Elizabeth remarked.

"They are, so you had best be careful. My darling pirates, this is my mother, Diamond, my father, Jack (watch that one), my very good friend Elizabeth Turner and her very good looking husband, William."

"Pearl," Elizabeth scolded as she stepped forward to study the children. "Very pleased to meet you."

"What're we going to do with them?" Jack asked.

"Well, I thought to bribe them into telling us pirate stories using tea and biscuits."

Jack studied them for a moment. "You know any stories 'bout Captain Jack Sparrow?"

"Tons," the girl agreed.

Jack nodded agreeably. "Excellent idea. Right this way then. Where did that bloody maid go?"

"Watch your language," Pearl ordered as she moved to follow.

"Sos then he disappears right from under their eyes, swords an' all," the girl narrated in a breathless voice. Her brother, who was acting out the story on her behalf, jumped up in the air and landed in a crouch, scurrying over to hide behind Diamond's chair as she laughed with delight, applauding.

"But however did he just disappear?" Elizabeth asked.

"He knows magic, 'course," Rose answered with a role of her eyes as she took another biscuit from the rather smitten maid.

"Where did he learn magic?" Pearl asked.

"From the gypsies, 'course," David said from behind the chair.

"Naturally," Jack added.

"So anyways, he 'pears in the shadows, 'cause he ain't really magical, ya know, an' he can only go so far, an' he slinks 'way like a snake. An' they never catchs him and never knows what he's done."

The gathered adults applauded loudly, some more so than others as in the case of the somewhat annoyed-looking Commodore, and the children stepped forward to bow.

As the laughter and applause faded Elizabeth regarded the growing darkness with a frown and remarked, "I should see about dinner. Hopefully the servants have started on it."

The girl gasped as she glanced around her. "We had best hurry home. Mama gets awful upset ifn we ain't back come dark."

"Would you like someone to walk you home?" Pearl asked.

"No. We be fine," David said quickly, Rose nodding agreement.

"Well, you will come by again I hope," Diamond said as she dropped a kiss on each child's head by way of goodbye, slipping cookies into their pockets. "Tomorrow if you can."

"We can!" David announced.

"If you like," Rose added quickly.

"Oh, we would!" Pearl assured them.

"We shall see you tomorrow then," Elizabeth announced.

Pearl lay back with a deep sigh as Elizabeth went to check on dinner and the children set off toward their home. "Not too tired, are you darling?" Diamond asked.

"A bit," she answered. "Perhaps I'll nap before supper. That was just far too much fun and excitement."

"Aye," Jack agreed. "I know how rumors grow and all but you controlling the weather?"

Pearl shrugged. "I might be able to use that if I'm ever captured and there's storm coming. 'Let me out or else' and all that. It seems you haven't done so badly yourself, Jack. Magical powers?"

"So it would seem," he answered with a laugh. "And you, Diamond. A princess, are you?"

"Yes, well, I would be queen if my brother hadn't set me adrift in that boat," she said with a feigned pout that left them all chuckling.

"And then there's the bloodthirsty Commodore here," Pearl put in. "You know, you could really hang more men if you would stop torturing them to death in the brig."

"I'll work on that," he promised with a chuckle. "Actually, maybe that could do some good as well. I won't complain about pirates fearing me. Maybe if I promise not to torture them they'll just surrender."

"Doubt it," Pearl remarked around another yawn. "But you can always try it out."

Elizabeth reappeared then. "They've started the meal. It should be ready in an hour."

Pearl stood and stretched, arching her back like a cat. "I'm going to nap until then," she announced, meandering out.

"Edward," Elizabeth hissed under her breath. "Go with her."

He nodded, leaving his chair to catch up with her.

He found her in the foyer, heading for the stairs. "I forgot something in my room," he told her. "I'm just going to go get it."

Pearl rolled her eyes. "You know, I wouldn't have believed it possible, but I think you are a worse liar than Will. I'm not going to go tumbling down the stairs again. I promise." As she said that, however, she stumbled over the rug. Norrington moved quickly to catch her, laughing at the glare she shot him. "Not a word," she ordered. He nodded agreeably, pressing his lips together to stifle the laughter.

"Perhaps I should carry you, just in case," he suggested.

She gave him her suggestive grin, always a sure sign of trouble, as she straightened, placing her arms around his neck and leaning close to whisper into his ear, "If you want to get close to me, Edward dear, all you have to do is ask." She punctuated the statement by kissing her away along his neck and down.

He took a moment to close his eyes and just savor the sensation. She knew how to push all of his buttons, to leave him wanting her with every fiber of his being.

But he had not become a Commodore by giving in to his every desire. He gently pulled her hands from his neck to step back. "I was worried about you. That's all."

"Liar." There was no accusation in the single word, only a statement of fact. She didn't move either, only stood there regarding him carefully. She had made the first move, she seemed to say, and was only waiting for him to continue the game. For long moments she stood there, infuriatingly patient as she waited for his response.

There was nothing to say to that. It had been half true at the most. The truth was that he wanted to be near her. He WANTED to give in, God above help him, and couldn't. Didn't know how.

Finally he settled for silence, moving across the room to scoop her up in his arms and carry her toward the stairs. She didn't protest, which was what he had been expecting. On the contrary she cuddled into his embrace. One hand snaked around his neck to trace some bizarre pattern on the skin of his shoulder his shirt left exposed. Her other hand settled over the one he was using to support her knees, brushing it tenderly with a still-calloused thumb. She snuggled her head into his chest, cleverly using her curling red hair (which was getting very long) to tease the skin exposed by the open ties of his shirt. He wished bitterly for his scratchy woolen coat as her insanely soft tresses drove him to madness. And most infuriating of all was that the little minx had her eyes closed, the picture of innocence as she rode in his arms.

He quickly scaled the stairs, walking as evenly as he could. He reached her room, fumbling her slightly to open the door. She blinked up at him as if he had awakened her from a nap as he took her into the swiftly darkening room. She smiled up at him as he carried her toward the bed, the hand on his shoulder moving up to run her long, clever fingers through his hair.

Her eyes locked on his as he lay her gently down onto the soft bed. He moved to retreat, the proximity making him extremely uncomfortable, but Pearl's arms were suddenly around his neck again, holding him in place. She really was getting stronger, or he was getting weaker. "Kiss me, Edward," she ordered.

"I can't," he told her.

"You did earlier."

"This is different," he said, trying once again to pull away. "Please let me go."

"You're right, this is different" she informed him, one of the arms hooked around his neck cinching tighter to pull him closer and keep him in place as she freed her other hand to stroke his cheek. "We were in public with two giggling children up a tree. Now we're in private, and you have a very willing woman that you love laid out on a bed for you."

"I will not betray Maggie," he informed her.

"Don't you already?" Pearl asked. "You love me. You love me and you'll marry her. Isn't that a betrayal?"

He looked away from her. "It's different."

"How?"

Damn her, Norrington thought desperately. Damn her and her insane, circular pirate logic. "It just is."

"That isn't an answer. A judge would never accept it if you stepped into a court and said, 'it just is.' Come Edward. You obviously believe strongly in this. Convince me. Give me hard logic. Tell my why it's more of a betrayal to Dear Maggie for you to sleep with me than it is a betrayal of me for you to marry her."

"You said no," he answered.

"Aye, I did."

"You told me to find someone and get married."

"I want you to be happy. It makes it no less a betrayal. You do not belong to her, Edward. Not yet. Not here, not now. Right now you're mine and I'm yours and that's all there is to it." She brushed his face, forcing his eyes to hers. "Please, Edward. Just tonight. Just for an hour. Pretend, if you like, that I'm your wife. I won't mind. Just, please. I need this. I need you. One last time."

She was begging. That was what caught him in the end. The great pirate, Pearl Sparrow, the strongest woman in the world, was begging him.

He swooped down on her, claiming her lips as he climbed onto the bed. "Think the others will notice?" he asked as Pearl helped his trembling fingers remove his shirt.

"Diamond will cover for us," she assured him.

For some reason right at that moment the idea of his lover's prostitute mother knowing exactly what they were doing didn't bother him as much as it ordinarily did.

Author's Note: I hope that worked. It was really hard. I don't want to screw up Norrington's character, or at least the character that I built. I think I've managed it, thanks to Pearl. Oh, and thank you to Miss ElfStalker for the incredibly kind reviews. You all make my day. You're spoiling me rotten, I'm afraid. Keep up the good work.


	10. Paradise Interrupted

Braving the Flames  
  
Chapter 10  
  
Disclaimer: Here's a big surprise. They aren't mine. Can you stand the shock?   
  
They descended the stairs to supper an hour later looking only slightly ruffled. Elizabeth gave them a suspicions look and remarked, "I expected you to come back down, Edward."   
  
"I got caught up in a book up in my room," he told her.   
  
Diamond gave him a wink that said she knew better, Elizabeth gave them a suspicions look, Will shrugged rather indifferently, and Jack grinned maliciously. "What book?" the pirate asked.   
  
"I beg your pardon?" Norrington asked, caught off guard.   
  
"I said--ow! Leave off, wench," Jack ordered Diamond, who was viciously elbowing him. "I said what book were you reading?"   
  
"Oh, um, the Iliad," he answered a bit too hurriedly as Pearl rolled her eyes.   
  
"You would have read a classic like that many times, I'd imagine," Jack remarked. "Must be very good if it still gets you."   
  
"Yes, well, as you said, it is a classic."   
  
Supper passed amiably enough after that, mostly thanks to Diamond, who elbowed Jack every time he opened his mouth. "Can't keep your hands off me tonight, can you luv?" he asked as he rubbed at his battered and bruised arm.   
  
"Oh, aye. You're just far too charming for me," she returned sarcastically.   
  
The group sat up to chatter away in the library for an hour until the need to sleep overtook them one by one. Pearl was the first to retire, followed by the Turners. Jack and Diamond were both still reading by candlelight when Norrington went up to bed, watching him a bit too anxiously for his comfort. To his credit he only paused a moment before Pearl's door before moving on to his own room.   
  
============================================  
  
For years to come Edward Norrington would count the next month as the happiest extended amount of time in his life. Pearl grew steadily better. She joined their sword fighting, steadily winning more and more matches as she regained her grace and muscle. While she never did beat Will fairly she did have claim to a good half of the wins when she took Norrington on. She took long walks every day and rarely napped. She regained her old energy, and her old shape as the muscle came back to her. As Norrington remembered his plan to ride each day it became a habit for most of the group (Jack stubbornly maintained that he would never ride anything but waves) to spend some time on horseback. Pearl pleasantly surprised him by being a capable rider, something he could not say of Elizabeth, Will, or Diamond although they all managed to remain mounted. Pearl had a love for the horses that sometimes seemed to border on empathy.   
  
As time went on Diamond took to staying in the house with Jack. There was something between them, Norrington was certain of it now. They spent a great deal of time together, and their eyes seemed to meet far more often than a person would expect. They flirted with one another, the same as always, but there seemed to be a passion to it that surprised the Commodore.   
  
Rose and David made regular stops in the afternoon to devour biscuits and entertain the adults with pirate stories.   
  
And Norrington and Pearl flirted. It was overt at best; a glance here, a brush of the hand there. Diamond always seemed to catch them at it, giving them a smile of approval, and Elizabeth would give them suspicions glances from time to time, but they enjoyed it all the same.   
  
It seemed every other night Norrington found himself drawn to Pearl's room, or found her waiting in his. Somehow she had convinced him that he had already sinned enough that a few more wouldn't really be that much worse. And she constantly reminded him that all too soon she would be well enough to return to the ship.   
  
It alternately tore at his heart and delighted him to see her regain her former self. And finally the night came when Jack announced that they should pack the next day and leave the day after. "Can't leave the ship for too long," Jack remarked. "I may trust my crew, but it doesn't do to ask for trouble. Asides, I miss my mistress. The sea, she's a demanding one."   
  
"And I've not made any money in a long while," Diamond put in. "Who knows what trouble Ruby's managed to get herself into by now."   
  
"Mister Brown has probably made a sufficient mess of the shop by now," Will remarked with a sigh.   
  
"I should return as well," Norrington said. "Put Port Royale back into some semblance of order." But disappointment rang clear in all their voices.   
  
The next day was spent in a mass confusion of packing, maids running from one end of the house to the other.   
  
As evening approached, just when Norrington thought he was about to go positively stark raving mad, a harried-looking maid approached him to announce that a carriage was coming up the drive.   
  
"A carriage?" he repeated. "Who is it?"   
  
"I assure you I do not know, sir, but it appears they have come some distance."   
  
His eyes widened suddenly. "No. Surely not." He stood from the chest he was packing to rush down the stairs, chanting to himself, "No, no, no, no."   
  
Surely enough he pulled open the front door just in time to see his future wife step out of the carriage. "I'm dead," he sighed, resting his exhausted head against the door.   
  
"Edward!" He looked up just in time to catch the excited redhead as she threw herself into his arms. She hugged him enthusiastically before pulling away, nearly bouncing with excitement. "Are you surprised to see me?"   
  
"I...yes. You have no idea how surprised."   
  
She giggled. "It wasn't easy, of course. Father didn't want me to go without a proper chaperone. My brother shall be here in a few days. I told him you were a man of good with proper morals and surely he could trust us together for a few days."   
  
"Surely," he answered numbly, the high recommendation haunting him already.   
  
"May come in?" she asked cheerfully. "It was frightfully hot in there."   
  
"Of course. You must forgive the mess. We planned to leave tomorrow."   
  
"You'll stay now that I'm here, won't you?" she asked, toying with a large emerald hanging around her neck.   
  
"Of course," he told her with a smile that made her face light up.   
  
"I've the best Fiancé in the entire island," she commented, pecking him on the cheek.   
  
"You're too kind," he informed her, looking around for a maid. Perhaps he could get a quick message to the Sparrows to behave themselves. If he didn't--   
  
His heart sank as he heard shouts and the sound of clashing swords. Praying Will and Jack had crossed swords over something he turned with Maggie to look at the top of the stairs.   
  
His luck failed him yet again as Pearl appeared with her father, both in full pirate garb he noted with an internal groan, sword clashing violently. He hadn't noticed how much of the pirate had come back, the transformation had happened so slowly, but Jack now looked almost entirely the way he had when he first set foot in Port Royale, minus the beads and heavy eyeliner.   
  
Norrington knew they were just blowing off steam, but to someone inexperienced with such matters, such as Maggie, it had to look like a furious fight. Both were so involved in the match they failed to notice the spectators below.   
  
Jack skillfully pushed Pearl back toward the stairs. At the last moment before he forced her to tumble down them Pearl switched the sword to her left hand, grabbed the twisted marble panicle on the banister, and pulled herself around it to hack at Jack from the other side. He stumbled back to avoid the hasty jab before returning the attack.   
  
Rather than engaging Pearl spun, planting one booted foot on the railing and pushing off with the other. Maggie cried out, and Norrington nearly echoed her, as the girl skated down the curved rail on one foot with a great deal of arm waving to retain her balance. She hopped off at the first landing, spinning to meet her father who had clomped down the stairs after her. Turning away his attack she hopped backward onto the rail again. This time, however, she jumped backward, landing in a practiced crouch on the thick rug.   
  
This time Maggie screamed in truth, causing Pearl to turn and reflexively raise her sword against an unseen attack. Naturally, this only made matters worse. Frightened in truth Maggie screamed again, shrinking back against Norrington.   
  
"Twenty gold says she's a noble," Jack remarked from the landing as Pearl put her sword away with a heavy sigh.   
  
"What was your first hint?" she called up to her father. "The shrieking, the silk dress, or the jewel the size of southern Jamaica around her neck?"   
  
"Mostly the shrieking," he answered, putting his sword away.   
  
Pearl, ever the dramatist, stepped forward to give the woman a very proper bow. "Margaret Neats, I presume."   
  
"How do you know that?" she asked, eying the girl with confusion.   
  
Pearl shrugged. "Lucky guess. Showoff," she added to her father as he jumped down behind her, sword safely away.   
  
"That's Elizabeth's uncle," Margaret said. "Does that make you Bethany Maltrey?"   
  
"Yes," Pearl answered with a grin. "And at the same time an overwhelming no. Very long story." Her eyes strayed up to Norrington's, questioning. "How much do you trust her?"   
  
"I'm going to marry her," he said defensively.   
  
Pearl shrugged. "You asked me to marry you, and you should never trust a pirate."   
  
"Pirate?" the girl asked.   
  
"Yes. And at the same time an overwhelming no," Pearl replied.   
  
"I trust her," Norrington put in.   
  
"Enough to tell her?" Pearl asked. "The whole truth?"   
  
"Of course."   
  
Pearl nodded. "Let's sit in the library then. Can't have her fainting away and hitting her head on the marble."   
  
"Oi! Wait!" Jack cried. "This is my neck you're putting in the noose too."   
  
"Are you afraid of the poor little noble?" Pearl asked her father.   
  
"Aye! When she can get me hung!"   
  
"Don't worry about it. If they did try to hang you you know I would swing in and save you."   
  
"Right. But I'd prefer you not having to swing in and save me."   
  
"I won't," she promised as she led the group into the library.   
  
"Are they, um, balanced?" Maggie whispered to Norrington.   
  
"No," Norrington sighed. "I'm afraid they're both fairly mad. Fortunately they aren't dangerous," he added quickly.   
  
Maggie shook her head. "I think I'm going mad."   
  
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Jack remarked, wrapping an arm around the woman's shoulders, earning a confused look from the woman. "I find madness is actually a much more comfortable state of being."   
  
"Jack, kindly unhand my future wife," Norrington ordered.   
  
Jack gave him a thoughtful look, pretending to seriously consider his request, a grin slipping onto his face to reveal how thrilled he truly was at thoroughly annoying the Commodore.   
  
"Jack!" Pearl finally snapped. "I appreciate teasing Edward as much as the next person but not at the expense of sweet, innocent girls. She's no Lady of Tortuga."   
  
Jack nodded. "Well said, Fledgling," he remarked, releasing Maggie to take a jittering step, dancing to a tune apparently hidden in his own head, moved to loop an arm around his daughter's shoulders.   
  
"Stop calling me that," Pearl ordered. "We'll be back on the ship soon, and you know I have enough trouble getting the sailors to take me seriously."   
  
"Being taken seriously is seriously overrated itself," Jack announced.   
  
Pearl rolled her eyes as they reached the library. She seated herself on one of the small couches on the end nearest another couch that made a right angle. Norrington moved to seat himself on the end of the second couch nearest her but Pearl held out her hand to Maggie, seating her close enough to retain ownership of her hand. With a mental shrug Norrington took the seat next to his future wife as Jack sprawled onto the couch next to his daughter, propping his boots up on the table before him.   
  
"First things first, I suppose," Pearl began. "You should know straight off that I'm not Bethany Maltrey. Well, I am, but not really. There is no Bethany Maltrey, just me in silk skirts, a brown wig, and a veneer of proper manners and rich upbringing. My real name is Pearl Sparrow. And this my father, Jack." Jack, who had thrown his head back and tilted his hat down over his eyes, merely waved at the mention of his name.   
  
"Like the pirates?" Maggie asked in obvious confusion.   
  
"Hmm. Quick one here. I'm impressed, Edward. Not your average noble," Pearl remarked. "Exactly like the pirates, as point of fact. It's a very long story, but I've helped Edward out of a tight scrape a time or two."   
  
"I would have managed on my own," Norrington put in.   
  
"Oh, aye. You would have managed to get yourself run through is what you would have managed to do," Pearl informed him. Leaning toward Maggie she added in a conspirative tone still loud enough for both men to hear, "You'll learn eventually how to handle their rampant ego. You need to learn to either pet them continually and tell them how lovely they are or put them in their place. They're the world's most insecure creatures in the world, men are." Maggie looked at her in obvious confusion, glancing back at Norrington on occasion, unsure whether to laugh or agree or disagree. The rules of proper manners were failing her entirely.   
  
"You're hardly one to talk," Jack saved the poor girl by informing Pearl.   
  
"Yes, well, my father raised me poorly," Pearl snapped back at him. "Anyway, when I turned up sick Edward agreed to give me the use of his country house to recover."   
  
"That was very kind of you," Maggie remarked to Norrington.   
  
"Yes, well, it was the least he could do, really, after I saved his life and all. That's the long and short of it, really. I'm well now, so we're heading back out."   
  
"Yes, of course," Maggie remarked, looking down at her clenched hands.   
  
"I like her," Pearl remarked to Edward. "She's a good choice. Quick wits, this one. Stronger than most powdered finery. I'm impressed."   
  
"Thank you," Maggie said. "I think. But how can you know all this? You've only just met me."   
  
"Elizabeth, in part," Pearl said with a smile. "But mostly I see it in your eyes. I was raised in Tortuga. I know a thing or two about reading people."   
  
Maggie swallowed convulsively. "Tortuga is real?"   
  
"As I am," Pearl answered with a smile. "You thought it was a figment of some housewife's imagination?"   
  
She nodded. "I have heard such things about that place. That it is teaming with houses of ill repute and taverns."   
  
"Stop, you're making me homesick," Pearl sighed, wiping a fake tear from her cheek as Jack chuckled.   
  
"You aren't, that is, a woman of, that is, I don't wish to insult you, I'm sorry. I should not have asked."   
  
"Not at all," Pearl answered flippantly. "No, I'm not a prostitute. My mother is, and my sister, but I'm making enough as a pirate to avoid that particular eventuality."   
  
Maggie stared at her in amazement. "I apologize. I do not wish to upset you."   
  
"You aren't," Pearl answered. "Speaking the truth very seldom upsets me, and you do deserve answers. I would say you are being miraculously patient."   
  
"I am glad you think so," she said, eyes suddenly drawing down to her hands. "I would ask you something if I thought I had the courage, that would most likely ruin your high opinion of myself."   
  
Pearl laughed, her strong boisterous laugh that rang up from deep in her throat that removed any doubt of there being a Lady hiding in the pirate. Maggie seemed startled by this, jumping just a bit and looking at the woman in concern. "Maggie, darling, I'm the daughter of a pirate and a prostitute. There is very little you could say that would trouble me, and I doubt you've seen enough of the world to know any of it. Ask. I promise not to be angry."   
  
Maggie went back to wringing her hands. "I just wished to know, that is, if you and Edward were, had been, that is, so to speak, intimate."   
  
The last word came out in a rush. Pearl's eyes moved to Edward's. "Recently, or are you asking about when I knew him before?" Pearl asked. Then she dismissed the question with a wave of her hand. "Never mind, the answer is the same."   
  
Leaning forward Pearl took Maggie's hand, looking deeply into her eyes. "Do you want the truth, or do you want me to tell you what you wish to hear? Because that is all most nobles would accept."   
  
"I want the truth, of course," she answered.   
  
Pearl nodded, drawing back with a smile. "Aye, I believe you do, and that is what I will give you. Before I answer you, however, I must make something perfectly clear. Edward did love me, when he first met me. Or proclaimed that he did. He asked me to marry him. His intentions were incredibly pure. I fear that's something I cannot claim. Yes, Margaret my dear, I fear I have been with your future husband." Her eyes widened and her head whipped around to study Norrington, who was suddenly very interested in a speck on his trousers. "You mustn't blame him, Maggie. It was all my doing. I fear I did a good deal of seducing, and being a prostitute's daughter I am frightfully adept at it." Jack snorted, and Pearl kicked at his shin before reclaiming Maggie's hand. "Promise me, Maggie, please, that you won't blame him. It isn't the sort of thing he does on a regular basis. And he will be true to his word. He will marry you and you shall be infinitely happy. And if it makes you happy, I'll swear never to touch him again. Once a man is joined in marriage I won't tear that apart."   
  
"Thank you," Maggie remarked. "For that. And for being honest with me."   
  
Pearl nodded. "We'll let you talk," she remarked, hitting her snoozing father before standing to leave the room. "But remember what I said. Every word of it is true. You couldn't find a more secure man to marry, not if you searched the world over. You're a lucky woman, Maggie, and I envy you."   
  
The pirates left the room, leaving a very uncomfortable Commodore with a very confused woman. "I'm sorry, Maggie," he finally said.   
  
"Do you love her?"   
  
He sighed. "Yes. And part of me always will. But she couldn't be happy as my wife, and I wouldn't be happy with her as a wife."   
  
"Do you love me?"   
  
"I'm beginning to, I believe. I will more fully in time, I'm certain. I want to marry you, I know that."   
  
Maggie's gaze went to the door. "She's interesting."   
  
"She is that," Norrington agreed with a laugh.   
  
Maggie nodded. "All right then."   
  
"All right what?" Norrington asked.   
  
Maggie shrugged. "Just, all right. Let me help them off and we'll start planning our wedding."   
  
"You still want to marry me?" he asked.   
  
"Of course," she answered. "What she said is true, Edward. You are loyal. When you were alone with her you had every reason to owe her your loyalty. Now that I am here, when we are married, then I shall have that. I see no reason to worry."   
  
"Oh, Maggie," he sighed, sweeping the girl into a hug. "Thank you."   
  
When they left the room a maid informed them that supper was waiting for them. The couple walked into a room bursting with noise. Jack and Pearl were arguing, as usual, over something completely inconsequential--Norrington had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the china. Elizabeth and Diamond were trying to calm them down (Will had apparently given up long before) although Elizabeth seemed to be doing more joining in the arguing than actual calming anyone down. Maggie surveyed the scene with wide eyes.   
  
Elizabeth noticed them first, jumping from her seat with a gasp to run over and hug the girl with a cry of "Maggie!"   
  
"You didn't tell them she was here?" Norrington asked Pearl and Jack.   
  
Pearl shook her head. "This is much more fun."   
  
"Wait, this is the strumpet that is stealing my daughter's love away from her?" Diamond asked.   
  
"Mother!" Pearl cried. "I'm the strumpet that's trying to steal him away from her."   
  
"You had him first," Diamond argued.   
  
"And she has him now. Besides, she's quick, but I don't think she's cunning or ruthless enough to be a strumpet."   
  
"You'd know," Jack remarked. "Oi! Stop that!" he added as Pearl's dinner knife suddenly embedded itself in the table a hair from his left hand."   
  
"It slipped," Pearl informed him, glaring across the table as Jack attempted to wrench the blade from the wood.   
  
"Would you please stop attempting to murder my furniture?" Norrington asked.   
  
"No," Jack and Pearl chorused, punctuated by a thunk as Jack finally removed the knife and embedded it in the table just short of Pearl's right arm. Not even blinking, Pearl wrenched the knife from the table and began cutting up her ham with it. "She started it," Jack said defensively when Norrington glared at him.   
  
Maggie stared at the table in horror, looking wide-eyed up at Elizabeth. "Could both of you please PRETEND to be civilized?" Elizabeth demanded. "You're frightening Maggie."   
  
"No," they chorused again.   
  
"I'll see to it they behave," Diamond promised. "Come sit, my dear. I apologize for them."   
  
"Can we look forward to good weather tomorrow?" Will asked as the gentry seated themselves.   
  
"Yep. Rain will start up day after tomorrow. We'll be well home before we even see clouds," Pearl promised.   
  
"So, Maggie, what news from the Port?" Elizabeth asked.   
  
As Maggie began prattling on about the latest gossip Jack and Pearl settled into a serious discussion of the benefits of certain rigging. Norrington put in his thoughts from time to time.  
  
The discussion ended suddenly when Jack announced, "Well, it's my ship, and I'm the Captain, and that's all there is to it." Pearl responded by flinging a spoon full of potato, complete with gravy, directly into his face.   
  
"Pearl!" Elizabeth and Diamond cried at once.   
  
"What? That was a perfectly-well formed and thoroughly thought-out response," she defended herself.   
  
A large amount of mashed carrots embedded itself in her red curls, bringing a dangerous gleam into her eye. "So is that," Jack announced.   
  
"Jack!" Diamond and Elizabeth cried together.   
  
"That's Captain Jack to you," he replied easily.   
  
"You know, some day they're going to realize that screaming our names does no good," Pearl remarked.   
  
"Heaven only knows what they'll do then," Jack remarked.   
  
A mass of tomato soup dripped suddenly down Jack's freshly laundered white shirt. "Give you a taste of your own medicine," Elizabeth said, polishing her spoon on her napkin.   
  
"That was pretty good aim for a Governor's daughter," Pearl remarked.   
  
"Maggie, dear," Diamond whispered as the gathered people began to glare at one another.   
  
"Yes?" she whispered back.   
  
"Under the table, now," she hissed, grabbing the girl's hand and diving just as various vegetables began to fly.   
  
Chortling evilly Diamond's hand reached up onto the table to retrieve her plate. "What are you going to do with that?" Maggie asked.   
  
"If you can't beat them, darling, you may as well join them," Diamond answered with a shrug. "And stay out of the line of fire while you do."   
  
"Hey now, no fair cheating," Jack announced, flinging potatoes onto the two crouched girls.   
  
"Let them hide, or at least Maggie," Pearl called. "A prissy noble girl like her probably couldn't hit the broad side of a navy destroyer."   
  
"Only one way to prove her wrong," Diamond remarked with a grin as she offered her the plate.   
  
A bit hesitantly she picked up a piece of roast beef dripping with gravy and grease.  
  
Lifting her head above the edge of the table she quickly hefted the piece of meat at the grinning pirate woman. It landed on her chin, sliming its way onto her shirt and falling to the floor with a final splat.   
  
"I stand corrected," Pearl remarked. "I'm impressed."   
  
The remark was followed closely by a large amount of peas, only half of which bounced off, the other half remaining mired in various remnants of previous ammunition. "Be careful how you talk about broad groups like nobles," Elizabeth remarked.   
  
Diamond took advantage of the distraction to loft her bowl of cooled tomato soup into Jack's face. "What about bloody old pirates?" she asked.   
  
"Or nasty Tortuga whores," Jack returned, dumping the contents of his entire plate onto Diamond's head.   
  
Maggie squealed in pure joy as she tried to protect herself from what missed the woman or flew off of her. She squealed more loudly as Pearl, forgotten by Jack and Diamond as they focused on one another, as well as Elizabeth and Will who were busy smashing potatoes into each other's hair, suddenly appeared around the table to pelt the helpless girl with carrots. She returned fire with the chocolate pudding left on the table as Norrington tried to protect his future wife, mostly getting in the way of the pudding himself.   
  
They stopped short when a sudden scream from Jack cut through the laughter. He was collapsed into the chair, trying to roll himself into a ball. Diamond had apparently grabbed her hot cup of tea and poured it into his lap.   
  
"That be me favorite body part, you bloody whore," he cried at her.   
  
"Which makes it the perfect target," Diamond responded. "Stop your whining. It isn't that hot."   
  
"Hot enough," Jack responded. "I seem to recall you enjoying this particular organ yourself."   
  
Diamond chortled, ignoring Maggie's stricken look. "Indeed, but I do that for a living, so I know a thing or two about that organ myself. And I can assure you that you will come to no permanent harm. Think of that next time you call me a 'bloody whore.'"   
  
"Bloody sensitive woman," Jack muttered.   
  
"Bloody insensitive pirate," Diamond returned.   
  
"Can we get back to supper?" Elizabeth asked helpfully. "I believe there's enough left that we can all get our fill."   
  
"Excellent idea," Pearl announced.   
  
They settled down to supper again. "Pearl, what is it like to be a woman on a pirate ship?" Maggie asked after a time. "I've always imagined it's very exciting."   
  
"It's much like being a man on a pirate ship, I suppose," Pearl remarked. "Except my father threatens the men more, and I've gotten very good with knives and such."   
  
"I'd imagine you'd be very good with pistols as well," Will remarked.   
  
"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Jack asked.   
  
"Oh, hush," Pearl ordered, waving her spoon full of potatoes threateningly. "What he's getting at is no, I'm not. I'm a bloody awful shot. Good with my knives, though, so it evens out. You only get one shot with a pistol anyway."   
  
"But don't you want to marry?" Maggie asked. "What about children?"   
  
Pearl laughed. "The sea is as much my mistress as Jack's. I'll die upon her alone and childless, but happy even for that. It's the way of things. I have a pirate's soul, if not the proper body for one."   
  
"But what do you do on the ship?" Maggie persisted. "You can't work as hard as the men. A woman's body isn't built for labor. Any man of learning will tell you that."   
  
Pearl shook her head. "The body, any body, will do exactly what you ask of it and go. Any gypsy will tell you that. I work as hard as any of the men on the ship, and harder just to prove that I can."   
  
Conversation tapered off after that, exhaustion from the day's packing or travels coming over them all.   
  
They went to bed early that night as the Turners and Sparrows had to leave early in the morning and Norrington intended to send them off. The Commodore looked wistfully at Pearl's door as he passed by. Once again he had expected to have more time to say goodbye to Pearl, but his conscience would not allow him to go alone into her rooms, even with the intention of talking. He had betrayed his future wife enough to let his guilt guide him to his own empty bed. 


	11. Happy Endings?

Braving the Flames  
  
Chapter 11  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. I have $11 in my bank account, and if you want to pry it out of my sweaty little palm it's going to take more than a law suit.  
  
Author's Note: Sorry this update is so short. School is kicking my butt, big time. I've had bad semesters before, but this one is definitely the winner. Not to worry, I'm not abandoning the project. I never could. I'm just saying the updates probably won't be as frequent or as long as you're used to. I have more to say, but I'll stick that in an author's note at the bottom. Read on!  
  
The dawn came too soon. Norrington descended the stairs to say his goodbyes only to find Maggie already downstairs, promising to visit the Turners the moment they returned as Pearl gave her father advice on the finer points of riding horses. Pearl had refused to take the carriage back and Elizabeth had done the same in a sudden fit of stubbornness. It appeared that Jack was regretting turning down their afternoon rides.   
  
Norrington felt Maggie's eyes on him as he approached the arguing pirates. Pearl was hardly recognizable. Refusing to wear skirts Elizabeth had seen the necessity of disguising her as a boy. She wore breaches and a white shirt that fell nearly flat, her breasts bound by a corset Pearl claimed the devil himself must have designed. Her hair, which had grown nearly to her waist, had been shorn off in the night some time. "If you don't stop whining I'm going to pull you up behind me and you can ride sidesaddle and hold my waist all the way back like some damsel of yore."   
  
Norrington shook his head as Jack cried out, "Over my dead body!"   
  
"Works for me," Pearl returned.   
  
Throwing up his hands and growling in frustration Jack stalked off to flirt with Diamond. Norrington watched the pirate and prostitute with interest. There was something between them, something he suspected ran deeper than sharing a daughter. Something their professions would not allow them to explore beyond the taste they'd had over the last few months. He pitied them, even as he pitied himself.   
  
"This isn't goodbye," Pearl startled the Commodore by saying. "I'll still be around, you know. Making your life miserable."   
  
"I don't doubt it," he told her, feeling better despite himself.   
  
"I wanted to ask you, do you want this back? Maggie seems to be the better choice for it now," Pearl remarked, running a finger over the chain of the Phoenix necklace still hidden beneath her shirt.   
  
"No," Norrington answered. "It's where it belongs."   
  
"Thank you," she said. "Well, it looks as if everyone is ready to go." She nodded toward the Turners, already mounted, who were attempting to get Jack into the saddle as Maggie giggled. "Best follow suit."   
  
She walked over to the waiting horses, pausing to place a gentle arm on Maggie's. "You take good care of him. Have beautiful babies for me, and make sure he eats once in a while. These big important men seem to get it into their heads that they don't need silly things like food. And be happy. That's most important."   
  
"I will," Maggie said, suddenly lunging forward to pull the startled pirate into a hug. "You be careful too."   
  
"Never," Pearl answered, pulling away and swinging up into the saddle. "Bethany will stop by next time she's in town."   
  
"I look forward to it," Maggie told her.   
  
"Can we go?!" Jack called. "My ship is waiting." Diamond leaned forward to smack his arm for the pains.   
  
Pearl nodded, turning her horse and ridding out with the rest of the group.   
  
Author's Note: Yes, yes. Like I said, short. Now I want to ask you something. Obviously I plan on continuing the story. I can't end it there, after all. And you won't believe what I have planned next. But I wanted to know how I could best continue publishing this. That is, do you want me to keep adding chapters to 'Braving the Flames' or do you want me to make it a new and separate story (the last one, I promise)? I've been wrestling with this problem for ages and finally decided I should just leave it up to the reviewers. Tell me what's easiest for you. Your vote counts, to bring to mind the upcoming election! And if you want to guess at what I have planned next, I would welcome it. I'll give you a hint: what is one of the few things that could force the two of them to be together? Personally, I can think of a couple different reasons, so I won't make fun of you if you're wrong. Extra points for creativity! Review! 


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